I was only 11 years old, but it was one year I’ll never forget. My family and I had just moved into a new house. I lived in the same town, just on the other side. This meant I would continue to go to the same grammar school, but would have to go to a different high school. My family still owned our old house, but rented it out to a different family. One day, my mom informed me on a big decision I had to make: choosing a high school to attend.

“Have you thought about what you want to do for high school yet?” My mom asked. 

I had put a lot of thought about it in the past couple weeks because I knew she would ask me eventually. I knew deep down she wanted me to choose the new school because of the “better education” I would get there, but I was torn between the two schools and didn’t know what I wanted. Before I could even answer her question, she continued to express her thoughts on the matter.

“You know, I bet you would benefit more from the new school in the long run…but it’s up to you. Honestly, you should just be grateful I’m giving you the option to choose” she continued to say.

“I know I know thank you. I’m grateful but this is also stressing me out. I kind of want you to just tell me where to go, but I don’t want to regret it” I said.

I had the choice to use my old house’s address and go to the school I thought I would always go to, or use my new house’s address and go to the new one. Since I live in a small town, majority of my friends and the people I grew up with were going to go to the school near by. On the other hand, I could go to the new school, where I would meet a lot of new people and, like my mom always said, get a better education. Because I was so young at the time, it was one of the first big decisions I had to make in my life.

When I was in about 3rd grade, my friends from my class and I would always talk about how much fun high school would be with each other. Of course, those friends would be attending the new school. We would talk about all of the cool classes we would be able to take and all of the new people we would meet. We were very excited. Now I was in 5th grade and we were even closer friends than we were before. I kept remembering small moments like this from the past that made my decision even more difficult. I thought I would never make up my mind.

I had many mixed emotions about the decision and the thought of making the wrong choice never left my mind. Asking my friends never really helped, because the majority of them were going to be attending the school near us. I didn’t know who to ask for advice without getting a bias answer. Whenever I would ask a family member about it, they would agree with my mom because they thought it would be the best for me. I always felt like my mind was in a constant battle with itself. Some days I had my heart set on what I wanted, some days I changed my mind.

After a very long time of constant arguments with myself and my mind, I finally made up my mind and choose the right decision, to go to the new school. I ran to my mom making sure she was the first person to hear my choice. The look on her face was indescribable. She was very happy, probably the happiest I’ve ever seen her. At that exact moment, I knew I made the right decision.

“We should start talking about the classes you will take, there are so many to chose from!” My mom exclaimed as she was hugging me.

“Yes mom we will eventually, we still have a few more years to get through first…” I said as my mom began to laugh.

Seeing my mom this happy made me feel great and excited for the future. My heart was racing, in a good way of course. Her happiness and the look on her face when I made my decision will be something I will always remember. I felt on top of the world, like everything was falling into place.  I definitely knew I made the right choice.