My Turn/Your Turn

The original post starts here at Every, Everyminute, and it is intended to be picked up by other bloggers and posted on their blogs.
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1. Respond to the "YourTurn" question on your own blog, labeling it as "MyTurn."
2. Then, copy the "YourTurn" question at the end of your post, which encourages a continuation of the conversation.
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4. Leave a comment on the blog where you originally saw the MyTurn/YourTurn post, so the author can come and read your response.

My Turn:

I realized when I was very young, before being conscious of it, that I had the option to go "far away" to college. That realization, and my embracing of it, changed the course of my life away from the course most of my high school friends took. Thanks to my sisters who didn't stay in state for college (one even left the country for part of her education!), I knew early on that I could do the same. By the time I was 12, I knew I would do the same, only moreso. The last year or so of high school was a daily trudge across the metaphorical desert toward the sheen of palm trees and promise of an oasis : College Out of State, One Thousand Miles Away from Home. Prior to that, however, I was working on getting the grades I knew I needed to be accepted for scholarships ensuring this would happen. I pretty much did the work without a great deal of planning or angst; I just knew it had to be done to get where I wanted to go.

Once I got away from the shadows of my siblings in our school system, once I was away from my parents--who really weren't all that bad!--I really blossomed. Within a year, I honestly felt like I had left my old, shy, constantly-embarrassed childhood self behind. Surprisingly, I could actually DO what I had told myself for at least six years that I HAD to do: I could make intelligent decisions, I could manage my time, I could decide who to hang around with and date...all without any input whatsoever from my well-meaning but entirely too overbearing family (sucks to be the youngest). Suddenly, I was no one's little sister, no one's daughter. Wow.

If I had stayed local and gone to college in the Denver area, there would have been no trip to Russia. I would have made very different friends, and I fear I would have chosen badly with my parents nearby to bail me out of any difficulties. I would never have dated and married Beast (or anyone remotely Beast-like). I'm not sure my life would have been substantially better or worse, but I doubt I'd have the self-awareness I developed as a result of being forced to re-invent myself.

Then again, if I'd've stayed local, I'd be living in Colorado today. So there's always tradeoffs. That's one lesson I've learned over and over. It is not possible to have every experience in one lifetime. Sometimes, it's hard to see what the tradeoffs are when you make choices; it's only much later that the impact of the decisions made today appear.

YourTurn: Looking back, what is one choice you’ve made that seems to have changed the direction of your life?