My College Experience:School vs. Family

By Rachel Cece

vs.

I was so excited to finallymove out of my stressful,

over controlling aunt’s house and live in my new dorm room.

Once I finished moving in, I

practically shoved my family out the door

I was happy with my choice ofattending a public college instead

of the United States Military Academy

Now I could livethe way I wanted

to and was nolonger afraid of

notmaking my bed

However, I did really missmilitary lifestyle and all of

the great times I had inJunior Reserves Office

Training Corps(JROTC)

And it was hard beingaway from my cat and not being able to sleep

With him

And I missed myboyfriend and old

high school friends

But I made newfriends and adjusted

well.

At Conn Hall,my roommates and

I eat wheneverwe have time…

Or, at least, wetry to eat the

food.

And we try to stay inshape by going

to the gym

But school worktakes up most of my time andmy playstation

is so dustybecause I don’t have

time for games anymore :[

But then my family startedTo call and said that they

desperatelyNeed my help back at home.

2 years ago myAunt Denise got in ahorrible car accident.The doctors thought

she’d be paralyzed but,by some miracle, she is

able to walk but isconstantly in and out

of the hospital

My family needed me to docertain shifts with her while

she was in the hospital becauseshe hates being alone. I alsohad to cook her food because

she won’t eat the hospital food

A few weeks later,I got a horrible call that

my mom was incritical condition at the hospital.She suffers from anorexia and

the doctors said her bodyis failing her and that if she

were to catch the flu this seasonshe wouldn’t survive.

They said that if she doesn’t start eating

she will die within 10-15 years.

The stress of going back and forthto help my aunt and my mom took

a hard toll on me. But I stayed focusedand made sure I always got mywork done even if it meant that

I would only get 4-5 hours of sleep

I love my family,but I told them that

enough was enoughand to leave me alonefor the last few weeks

of the semester.

They obliged andafter finals I’ll be ableto be home and take care of my aunt and

mother

After all that happened thissemester, I’ve realized that myfamily has been running my life

even before college. I chose not todo West Point, but I still feel

lost without ROTC. I like Southern but I want to

stop trying to please my family and instead do

something that I love. Sonow I’m planning on

transferring next year toa school that offers ROTC

& I’m not going to tell my familyuntil I’m in it so they won’t be able

to talk me out of it….again.