When you go to community college and work hard to get into a university after two years, no one tells you what it feels like to get to the point where transferring actually becomes a thing. It’s like being a high school senior all over again but with even more pressure because the amount of time you have to figure out a life choice comes at you at top speed.

I never thought, in my entire life, that I would have to choose between schools, because I didn’t ever expect to be accepted by two, let alone one. Now that it’s getting close to the time a a choice has to be made, it seems like all those times I complained about being close to home and living at home is truly coming back to haunt me. No one warns you that once you apply for schools and actually get accepted, your life is going to change within a matter of months, and it will become a decision that will affect you for the rest of your life.

I feel like when Robert Frost talked about, “two roads that diverged in a yellow wood, and I chose the one less traveled by,” he was not just talking about what it’s like trying to make any difficult decision in life, he was especially talking about transfers students that tend to be standing right at the two paths with so much anxiety about which one to choose because unfortunately, going backwards is not an actual choice after choosing which path to go down. People will repeatedly tell you that your heart will tell you where to go, but they also know just as well that the amount of self-conflict that comes with any decision made will be the main reason it is so difficult to make a choice. It’s okay to worry and stress because it is a BIG decision in life, and for many, like myself, it is a choice that has never been made before, in any form.

I find myself spending a lot of time reflecting on the pros and cons of each option and spending more time researching the schools than actually focusing on keeping up the grades to attend either of my options. It seems like sometimes we all get so caught up on achieving one goal on the path to success that once we reach that goal, we forget there is an “after” that is even more important and vital. It reminds me of a video game where I only have one heart container left and a set amount of time that is counting down as I try to find the best possible way to reach point B so that I can get to my final point which I’m hoping is point C but during the whole process, I must leave behind some of my most prized possessions along with the people that I’ve met along my way to point A.

I know that no matter what decision is made, and where I end up, it’ll be for a reason, just like how it’s been for the past nineteen years of my life. I not only congratulate all my fellow transfer students that have been accepted into schools, but I also wish them luck on the rest of their journey and on their choices they also have to make. Life always has a funny way of working itself out, and I’m truly hoping that this time will be no different.