When I Look Back, I Wouldn't Change a Thing: There's No Place I'd Rather Be

Looking out at the softball field as snow scatters across it, I am in awe over how fast this semester has gone. As I reflect on my first semester in college, I finally understand my mom’s comforting words “Everything happens for a reason,” as I cried my eyes out on May 1, 2019: our college decision day where we proclaimed to our friends that we are Stags.

While I have come across many individuals who said Fairfield was their first choice, my experience was not the same. When I was applying to colleges, I was the annoying kid who practically lived in the guidance office; trying to gain as much insight as possible on how to gain an acceptance letter from my dream school, Fordham. Fordham meant the world to me because it is the place that educated my family; a legacy I worked so hard to continue.

I still hear my mother’s voice this past March when she told me Fordham was off the table. After the heartbreak I endured from being deferred early decision, I endured greater agony in knowing that I had gained an acceptance letter from Fordham and could not attend because of the ABSURD price tag. Immediately, my mother looked at me and said “You’re going to Fairfield. They gave you everything you have worked so hard for.” At the start of my application process, Fairfield was my backup school in case Fordham did not work out because I loved the community it fosters. However, I suffered very much throughout high school and I believed the universe owed me a chance to follow my dreams as a Fordham Ram.

Following my commitment, I began considering a gap year; having called Fordham to reserve my spot in the Class of 2024. As I waited on the phone with my admissions counselor who did not appear to care about me, I thought about who I am and who I am called to be as my admissions counselor only cared about my test scores. Being that my mother never fails to make an appearance, she sat me down and told me “You are graduating at the top of your class, Student Body President, and have received every honor you have dreamed of. Stop sulking about Fordham and realize that there are kids out there sulking like you about Fairfield. Let it be and go where you’re meant to. Everything happens for a reason.” From there, I hung up the phone and was content with my decision in Fairfield being my "first semester school."

As I look back on how wrong I had it, Fairfield has become more to me than I ever thought possible. So what changed? Even though I hate to give her the satisfaction, my mother’s words, “Everything happens for a reason,” replayed in my head frequently this semester. I became heavily involved on our campus and I believe this is what made me feel at peace with my decision. Still, I did not end up at what I thought was my dream school, but Fairfield has already become that for me.

I’m glad I said FU to Fordham so that I could become someone greater at FU!

After all, a wise woman once told me, "Everything happens for a reason."