To the students who are wondering if they chose the right school,

I hear you. I know that you are frustrated with your classes, your roommates, your friends, and your school as a whole. You don’t know if you are meant to be on this campus, maybe that other school would have been better if you’d gone there. You had so many options on your list and you feel as if you made a mistake by choosing this one.

I have been there.

I’ve spent sleepless nights tossing and turning on my twin XL mattress, listening to the soft hum of my roommates’ fan, wondering what sequence of events landed me at this school. My friend’s post pictures of bright smiles and happier times at their schools – why didn’t I go there? Where everyone seems to be happy all the time and is positive that they’re at the right school.

So many of us have stood in your shoes.

The girl who sits next to you in freshman lit has wished she didn’t go so far from home. The boy in your anatomy study group wishes he had gone farther than he had. The athlete on your floor wishes they had stopped playing sports after high school and gone to a school where they didn’t rely on their athletic scholarship. The honors student has spent nights doing more work than they wanted to and wished they had picked an easier school, an easier program.

It is okay to feel as if you are out of place. It’s okay to think you aren’t on the right path.

The good news about this kind of thinking is that you can find your own path, maybe it isn’t the right one, but you have the power to create your own goals and dreams. You can change schools if you want, it’s never too late. Or you can stick it out, join a new club, change you major, meet new people.

If you are wondering why everything feels so wrong, try putting yourself in a new environment on campus. Maybe you aren’t meant for Greek life, or maybe you are but you never tried. Maybe you would be a great leader for your residence hall, or maybe you need a step back from responsibility.

No matter what you decide, take time out of your day to care for yourself and your body. Give it the rest it deserves. Take your classes seriously and put in the work required. Give your school a second chance. You may find that it really is your home-away-from-home, you were just looking in all the wrong places.