Rory's going to Yale (Part II)

For Part I click here.

(Note: this was going to be posted a long time ago and actually I did write a pretty good blog post but then Blogger quit on me and I was left blog-less. So I realize now that pretty much everyone knows where I'm going since I added it to my facebook and blog profile, etc., but nevertheless I figured that should finish this)

So I realize that this is a rather cryptic way of saying it, but I felt a lot like Rory when I had that moment and realized that I want to go to USC. Obviously it's a top-20 school in the job market I want with a small class size and a great scholarship. Most sane people would pick it hands down.

But I'm not most people and I'm certainly not sane when it comes to the choices I make. It's not that I make poor choices, it's that I make choices that intentionally complicate my life. For some odd and twisted reason, I like to make my life as challenging as possible. I've made a lot of decisions where, looking back on it I realize that had I decided on something different my life would be a lot different (like choosing my major for example). So when I was looking at GW vs. USC, my tendency was to pick GW, because it would such a huge change to move to DC and I've have this huge class of students to meet and compete with. Plus it came with a much smaller grant.

It even got to a point where I think my parents thought I would choose GW, just because everyone expected me to go to USC. It was my way of charting my own path. And that was true, I got really close to choosing GW. But then I started hearing from them more, and hearing from the students, and thinking more about what $60k means and what a smaller class size would mean, and what living in SoCal would mean, and what being at a Pac-10 school would mean and I realized that I got in there for a reason. I had that "a-ha" moment that Oprah always talks about when you realize that the choice has been made. I realized that just this one, I could make the easier and more comfortable decision and it would feel right.

It was like when Rory realized that she would want to go to Yale. It wasn't as adventurous since it was 20 minutes from home and her grandfather went there, but it was the right fit for her. She was able to put aside her long-standing prejudices towards going to Yale and embrace it. That's exactly what I'm trying to do with USC (supporting their athletic dept. is another story...). It might not be the most challenging option but I think it's the right decision. I guess I'll have to see how that pans out!

So yes, I will probably be at USC and I am looking forward to being back in SoCal :-)