Which college is right for me?

I had to make a really big decision. After dropping out of my previous college, I wanted to finish my degree. So I applied to a couple of colleges. But choosing which one to attend was difficult. 

I got scholarship offers from two colleges in two different states, and one school was much bigger than the other. I didn’t know which one to choose.

I procrastinated on finalizing my choice while spending some time with my family on a little vacation. But even though I was trying to avoid thinking about things, deep down I was still stressed and scared of making the wrong decision. 

One day, after I’d been swimming and paddleboarding on a lake with my family, my thumb started to bother me. It was so painful that it kept me up at night. 

I was stressed and scared of making the wrong decision.

Although my college decision and my injured thumb might not seem related, to me these problems were similar. I was putting a lot of stress on myself mentally because of the decision I had to make, and it seemed like my thumb was hurting because of physical stress. 

When the pain became unbearable, I told my parents, who are both Christian Science nurses. They bandaged my thumb to keep it stable and supported. They also encouraged me to pray and said they’d be supporting me in prayer. As a student of Christian Science, I’ve found that turning to God has helped me find healing and have breakthroughs when I feel stuck. So I called a Christian Science practitioner to pray with me.

I started praying by asking God what I should do about college. I thought that if I asked God where He wanted me to go to school, He’d tell me, and I’d feel much better.

But I quickly realized that was the wrong approach. Because of what I’ve learned about God from attending Christian Science Sunday School, I knew that God doesn’t sit in the sky and point me in the direction He wants me to go. God is Love, and Love leads us, supplying everything we need every step of the way. I knew that what I really needed was to understand more about Love’s care for me. Then I could go forward with trust and confidence.

This shifted the way I was praying. Instead of praying about the right college, I started to pray about what it means to be in my right place. My right place wasn’t a specific location, but was somewhere I could feel comfortable, loved, supported, and supplied in all parts of my life.  

I began to understand that God provides me with whatever I need, no matter where I am. I felt really comforted by this thought and less afraid of making the wrong decision.

Through my prayers, I began to understand that God provides me with all this and more, no matter where I am. This is because Love is constantly supplying us with what we need, like a parent taking care of a child. I felt really comforted by this thought and less afraid of making the wrong decision.

Just a few hours after this realization, I received an email from one of the two universities I was considering. They were offering me an additional scholarship. It was not surprising that once I completely let go of my fears and anxieties and understood that I could never be outside of God’s care, there was a clear answer right in front of me. All the confusion and stress disappeared. Soon the pain in my thumb also vanished, and I could move it normally again. 

In the fall, I began attending the university, and it turned out to be a great fit for me in so many ways.

This experience showed me that instead of starting with pros and cons or debating options when you have to make a decision, the best place to start is with God. As you trust God’s care, presence, and direction, you’ll be able to see clearly what’s in store for you—which is always good.