What to do with 500 words?

I’ll discuss my new found appreciation for Missouri Southern and small colleges.

In August 2008 I stepped onto Missouri Southern’s campus.  My main reason for attending Missouri Southern was to play soccer.  My first semester was a little rough.  College was nothing that I had envisioned.  I pictured freedom and parties, boy was I wrong.  Playing a sport in college eliminated both of those quickly.  I showed up two weeks before school even began for two weeks of preseason.  That whole week was nothing but eat, sleep, soccer.  Going out, home, or relaxing was out of the question.  I would get phone calls from my friends talking about their campus and all the activities and social events they were attending.  I felt tied down and in no way free.  I tried convincing my parents to let me transfer after the first year, but they were not having it.  By the end of my sophomore year I realized the only thing I really liked about my school was the girls on my soccer team, and I still felt like I was missing out on the “true” college experience.  After two years of begging my parents reluctantly allowed me to transfer to nowhere else but MIZZOU!!  I told my coaches and said my goodbyes before summer 2010 came.  Around the end of June I realized I may just be making the biggest mistake of my life.  I had taken everything that I had been given for granted.  I was given the opportunity to play soccer for my job during college.  I was introduced to twenty-four of my best friends.  I had small class sizes where teachers actually knew my name and I was not just another number.  I was able to walk across campus and be shocked if I did not see any one I knew, instead of shocked if I saw someone I knew.  I built friendships with people in my classes because I was not in a class room with four hundred people.  I decided early July to go back to Missouri Southern and make the best of it.  My junior year has by far been the best year for me in college.  Everything I hated before I cannot get enough of.  I have built friendships that will last forever and memories that not everyone gets to experience.  What really sealed the deal that I made the right decision happened last week.  I called up my friend at Mizzou and she told me about how they had 10 inches of snow on the ground, and I was for sure that classes for her would get canceled the next day.  That next morning I woke up to two inches of snow on the ground and no school, while she woke up to 12 inches of snow and a full day of academics.  If you do not love Missouri Southern after that one I do not know what would convince you! I try to live my life with no regrets and learn from every experience, but if I would have gone through with the transfer to Mizzou it would by far have been my biggest regret so far.