The right decision

I vividly remember driving down to Bloomington from Indianapolis on move-in day my freshman year. All my belongings were packed in my family's minivan. My dad drove, my mom sat shotgun and I sat in the back, surrounded by what seemed like hundreds of boxes and bags. It should have been an exciting time for me, but I was apprehensive about becoming a college student. My dad must have noticed my forlorn expression in the rearview mirror and he asked me what was wrong.\n"What if it sucks?" I remember asking, not sure if I wanted to become part of a 36,000-member family.\nThree years and nine months later, I can look back and laugh at my question. IU didn't suck. In fact, coming here was the best decision I have made in my 21 years. It was single-handedly responsible for shaping what I believe in and who I am. \nI'm sure I'm not the only one who was hesitant about coming to IU and is sad to be leaving. \nI'll always remember the 11:30 p.m. ice cream breaks at the Read McDonald's. I'll always remember watching "elimiDATE" at two in the morning with people in my dorm. I'll always remember climbing up the seemingly endless stairs in Ballantine Hall and spending the first five minutes of class trying to catch my breath. \nI'll always remember how beautiful the campus was year-round. I'll always remember failing my first test (it was in economics -- sorry, Mom and Dad). I'll always remember having to buy textbooks I didn't always open, and I'll always remember Marco Killingsworth's dunk that put IU ahead of Duke and sent Assembly Hall into hysterics. \nAnd I won't soon forget what being a college student allows you to do. My friends and I can stumble into La Bamba at 3:30 a.m. after drinking on Kirkwood one night and it's perfectly acceptable. A year from now, doing that same thing could brand me as a pathetic loser trying to relive her college years. I can also eat frozen pizza four times a week and sleep in until 2 p.m. on the weekends without feeling an ounce of guilt. \nWhile these past four years are in the books, my short-term future is still TBA. (That's what happens when you have a near 40-hour-a-week job at the Indiana Daily Student). On Wednesday, I'll be flying down to Florida for a job interview. On my way there, I might have the same reservations about a possible future in Florida as I did about becoming an IU student. Will it suck possibly creating a life for myself hundreds of miles from home?\nIf it's anything like my time spent at IU, the answer will be a resounding no.