Two roads diverged in the yellow wood and I sat in the middle unsure of what to do.

Have you ever felt stuck? Lost, almost and not sure what to do? I’ve been there, and I’m sure some of you have been to. And I want to tell you that that’s okay; life happens and sometimes you come to that fork in the road and you have to make decisions. I crossed my fork in the road this past year. I’m a nursing major and have been set back a year. When this happened I was angry, sad, confused and not sure where to go or what to do. All that I thought about was that I wouldn’t be graduating with my class, with my friends that I have been with for 3 years now. I also thought about what people would think, would they see me as a failure, that I’m not good enough or smart enough? This shattered my world, and for a while I was no longer on track and felt embarrassed and humiliated. I never saw this coming and had no clue what the next step would be. I had options: continue to with nursing school and be a year behind, go home and see if I could finish up somewhere else or change my major. This is not an easy decision to make, I mean it effects your whole future and all I could think about is why, why did this happen, but I’ve learned its okay.

It’s okay to take a different path then others. Sometimes it’s stuff like this that helps you really decide if what you chose as your major is really what you want to do in life. I’m not going to lie I went back and forth a lot between the three options that were given, but I knew I had to do what was right for me.

If I'm really being honest, it took me a while to see that taking your own time to get to the finish line is okay. Just look at the tortoise and the hare. You have to step back and do what is best for you and do what will help you reach your goal. This decision is something you have to decide on your own, without thinking of what others will think and not caring that you won’t be graduating with you class because in the end the goal is to make sure you enjoy what you do in life. That’s one thing I was taught when I was young to do something with your life that you love or you won’t enjoy what you will spend most of your life doing. You have to believe in yourself and don’t let not graduating with friends have an effect on what you want to achieve in your life and don’t worry about what others may think it’s none of their business anyway. Sure that extra year without them may not be the best, but you get to make new friends and enjoy another year in college without having to worry about the “real world” for a bit.

So take this fork in the road as a blessing in disguise, sure it may take a while to see it, but know that as long as you follow your heart, work hard and make the decision that will make you happy the world is at your fingertips. Go out and take your time not everyone gets to the finish line at the same time.