Decisions.

Hey everyone!

So recently a lot has been happening in my life, and I think this week is a good week to share all of the big decisions I've had to make lately and why. Once you hit college, life kind of just comes at you quickly, and you start realizing that you need to make more than a few huge life choices.

Originally, after returning to Saint Michael's after basic training and tech school in July, I was planning on studying abroad next semester in Leeds, England, but that all changed in what seemed like the course of two days. At the beginning of last week, I heard that I had been awarded the Buxton Scholarship, a scholarship given out by the Air National Guard for students who're enlisted, and it gives me 12 credits for free.

At first I was ecstatic, thinking that this scholarship would cover the rest of my fees for next semester and that study abroad was all paid for, but after I emailed the woman in charge of Veterans Affairs, she told me that this scholarship could only be used for Saint Michael's.

This would leave me with thousands of dollars to come up with for next semester that I had no way of getting without the scholarship, so I made a very important last-minute decision - I decided to postpone my study abroad plans until the summer.

A lot of factors came into this decision aside from the scholarship though, such as Christian Camerota, the man in charge of the blogging program at Saint Michael's, offering me a paid blogging position if I stayed at Saint Michael's and getting offered seasonal job at RadioShack just yesterday. With all the opportunities arising here, it just didn't seem like the right time for me to study abroad. While it was definitely hard to give up England, I think I made the right choice.

I'm sorry Leeds - maybe I'll be there this summer!

Sometimes you need to sacrifice what you really want to do for what's most practical, and other times you just have to go for it - it all depends on the situation. I think it was right for me to give up my dreams of England to gain more support at home first. I'm now looking into some summer programs in England and Scotland, and I'm hoping to start the process for those very soon!

Well that's my big news, do you all think I made the right choice? I'd love to hear what you have to say if you want to share - in the mean time, I hope your semester is wrapping up nicely, and if you're studying abroad next semester, I hope you have an incredible time and realize just how lucky you are to be going!