The Best Decisions I Have Ever Made (Part 1 of 2)

The other day, I was discussing with a friend of mine our transition into adulthood when we came upon the realization that the decisions we make now are completely our own. No longer do parents, grandparents, teachers or siblings attempt to guide us in the right direction when making our decisions. Now, when I make a wrong decision, it is due to my own lack of judgment, not misguidance as it may have been in the past.  This had me completely terrified until I realized that this had been true for over a year now. While my decisions may carry more pressure I am also able to be much prouder when I do make the right choice. This is likely why my friend and I began to discuss the best personal decisions we have ever made.

Immediately my best decision popped into my mind: the decision to attend William & Mary. My college decision was unlike most others however. When I applied during my senior year, I was waitlisted. I remained on the waitlist through May and deep into June. When I received a call from an admissions counselor at William and Mary I was not only set on attending another institution, I had already purchased the standard swag and, in fact, had just returned from summer orientation.

For the first time in my life I was faced with a decision that was not only incredibly important but completely my own. Even when I had decided to go to the school I originally sent my deposit to, there was no real decision to be made, as it was the only one of my top choices that I got into. The school I was going to was comfortable. It was in the same area of the country that I had gone to high school in, I already knew a few people that were attending and it had a good reputation at my high school. William and Mary on the other hand was rather unfamiliar to me. I knew one person that went there, my cousin, and the only reputation it had at my high school was that it was a good school, nothing more, nothing less. I had almost made up my mind to forgo attending William and Mary and attend the other school when my father offered to fly me to Virginia to visit campus one more time. I elected to take him up on his offer simply because of the magnitude of the decision, however I was pretty certain that my mind was made up and William and Mary had lost.

I changed my mind before I even got out of the car. The absolute beauty of campus astonished me. The brick buildings, the foliage and just the general atmosphere had me in complete awe. It was nothing like how I remembered it (likely due to the severe food poisoning I suffered from on that first college trip). I seemingly glided around campus on a tour that lead me back to a bench in front of the admission office. On that bench, I decided to take the plunge and enroll.

I guess my advice here is this: don’t be afraid of the unknown, if it feels right, it’s probably right. I only really knew logistical things about William and Mary when I made my decision, like its ranking and its retention rate but these numbers were not enough to convince me to take the leap; it was the indescribable feeling of belonging. And in this case, greater risk lead to much greater reward. Although in this situation there was no wrong answer, it is very possible I could have been happy at the other school, however, while it might have been a good decision to play it safe, it definitely would not have been the best decision I ever made.