College

Life is what we make of it. Each decision we make chooses the path we head down, twisting and turning with the good and the bad. College is one of the biggest decisions to make in life, what to become, where to go. I know what life has become because I choose to at least start college. What I don't know is how my life would have turned out had I not taken the time to explore.

When my senior year of high school came around so did the pressure. "What college are you going to?" "What are you going to major in?" "You need to make something of yourself!" For someone who had no clue as to what she wanted to major in or where she wanted to go, no one would ever have guessed. I made sure everyone believed that I had a plan. I was going to go to Ferris State University and major in pre-medicine. Considering I was an honors student in high school, my plan was feasible. After all, most of the women of my family are RN's or medical assistants. I wanted to be more than that, I wanted a better job. My family is difficult to reason with. What they wanted always overrode what I wanted. I chose to be a physician. In turn I made them happy by staying in the medical field and it made me happy because it was going for something greater. Any job outside of the medical field would not have been acceptable to them. I convinced everyone, including myself, that this was exactly what I wanted. It is amazing how a person can convince themselves of anything if they are told it enough times.

In the fall, I registered for some general education classes and moved in to my new home, the dorm room. Like any other freshman I went to orientation, met my roommate and classes got off to a good start, including my Algebra and Chemistry classes. I naturally seemed to do well in those subjects; however, my English and Humanities classes needed some work.

Campus life was so different from being at home with the family. There was no pressure, no rules, no one breathing down my neck expecting me to always be the best. It was an unusual feeling to have the freedom to just be me, to let go and have fun the way that I wanted to. I was finally an adult, ready to make my own decisions whether they are bad or good. And that is just what I was going to do.

My roommate was a year ahead of me and according to her, I had not experienced life. She meant that because I had never really partied before and my alcohol consumption was nil, I needed to become familiar with that aspect of life. Apparently everyone is supposed to party when they are in college. I drank more alcohol in that one night than how many a normal person is supposed to consume in a day and a half. Shots, fuzzy navels, whiskey, and