Introductory Post

 When it comes to making decisions that I believe could have altered my life path, there have been numerous decisions where I felt as if I made a certain choice that could have led me down a different path. Everyone who is alive probably feels this way, we wish we could go back and make a different decision, make a certain sacrifice, and say the right thing this time, but we can’t. A lot of people, including myself at times struggle with this kind of living in the past sometimes and we are unable to let go of past decisions we might have made dwelling on if things would be any different now if we did things any differently. While they do not have to be as drastic as the Other Wes Moore making a decision that would lead him to be in prison for the rest of his life, certain decisions can haunt us if we are unable to let go. 

 I’ll talk about one of my decisions that haunts me to this day. My freshman year in 2020 I was at Montclair State University. I was majoring in sports and digital media production with an interest in pursuing a career in sports media. I ultimately hated what I was doing because of all of the production work such as camera work, video editing, cutting highlights, etc, I actually really hated it, it was not for me. I also was supposed to play baseball at Montclair State, but with COVID-19 there was a rule passed where seniors from the previous year could come back only taking one 3-credit course, so me and a few other guys on the team who were late recruits were told there was no room for us on the roster that year. The coach said to us “You guys can go play club baseball this year, and when next season rolls around you can try out and have priority over the other guys since you were late recruits this year.” Hearing that just made me angry and I felt like it was beneath me so I decided to not play club baseball and instead just be a regular student. When that didn’t turn out the way I thought it would either, I thought maybe it was time for a change. I also got recruited by NJCU, so I made a phone call to my old travel coach who called the coach here and they were still interested so I transferred over here, and that is the decision I sometimes wish I could take back. 

When I transferred everything was fine for the first month or so, my classes were fine, I was playing baseball, I was going to school for less money, but then the tide started to change. For the first time ever, I got seriously injured and partially tore my right hip flexor. I was done for the rest of the fall and had to watch from the sidelines, then when winter break rolled around, I made another decision that I still regret. I quit the team because I knew I had zero chance of playing because I was out for most of the fall so I did not want to sit on the bench in the freezing cold. I decided to work and take 18 credits every semester from there on out. So in the span of a year, I made two decisions that have completely altered my life path and I still look back on them thinking about what could have been if I made a different decision and hadn’t reacted with so much negative emotion. But if I hadn’t made those decisions, I don’t think I would have ever figured out what I wanted to do with my life, so I guess you really can say everything happens for a reason.

While my decision was not as drastic as the Other Wes Moore’s, I would say we both share some regret and think about what we could have done differently. The only thing anyone can do in these situations is move on and look at what's ahead, instead of living in the past. Everything happens for a reason, and I truly believe that.