Happiness Reborn

The first seven weeks of my college experience were hell to say the least. My original roommate couldn't attend the university and let me know three days before move-in. I walked into my dorm room on move-in day to find a complete stranger had already claimed her side of the room. Unimpressed but trying to stay positive I introduced myself and my parents to her. She was cordial and kept to herself the entire time I was moving all my stuff in. After my parents left, my new roommate proceeded to tell me about herself and I knew right away it was not going to work out. Our living styles were completely different and throughout the first week I knew something had to be done. I talked to the people I was supposed to but none of them were much help. I went to the assistant director of student housing placement and told him about my situation. He was sympathetic but told me to file a hall change request form so that something could be done. So that's what I did, I filed a hall change request form to switch rooms and waited for seven weeks to hear from residential life. Nothing. For seven weeks I lived walking on eggshells in my own dorm room, a cloud of darkness following me wherever I went. At one point I thought my tear ducts would never be dry again. After family weekend when my parents got to witness what I was dealing with, my mom called the Dean of Students and that's when action started being taken. I met with the assistant director of student housing placement again and he gave me a list of different rooms I could move into. Once I had picked my new room and met my new roommate things started to look up.

My parents moved me into my new room on a Sunday afternoon and stayed with me for a while, helping me get situated again. Once they left, my enemy homesickness struck. I cried in my room for four hours wishing to be home again where I was happy. I cried for several days feeling as though I wasn't fit for college, that I wasn't ready to be living on my own, and that I wanted to move back home. I had thought that having a better roommate would help my situation yet I still felt that something was missing. After weeks of debating with myself, talking to my counselor, my parents, and my friends, I came to the decision to take a medical withdrawal from the university. This means that my academic career will be put on pause at the university and that I can take as many months or years off as I need, but can file for reinstatement at any point. While on medical withdrawal I will be living at home, commuting, and taking classes at a university close to my house. When I made the final decision to leave, a weight was lifted off my shoulders. I saw happiness in my future. Real, pure, and true happiness. Something that I had been missing and craving since I last felt it during the summer months.

Everyone experiences college differently. Some thrive living hundreds of miles away from home, while others stay close and visit often. Despite what everyone tells you, there is no right or wrong way to do college. It's all about the individual and what is best for them. For me, being home is what's going to make me happy and is what's best for my well-being. Although a tough decision, I know I need to put myself first and prioritize my happiness. College is supposed to be the best years of your life, so why waste time and money if you're not getting that experience. I've learned to not care what other people think about my decision because they don't know me and what I've been through. I was given one life, so why waste it being unhappy when I can easily be happy. The one thing I thought I'd lost forever, has now been reborn.