The Price of Happiness

The envelope was small and that was never a good sign. I was beyond convinced that it couldn't be a rejection, but at the same time I was confused. It said, “Bridgewater State University, Office of Admissions” and was addressed in my name. I told my mom to open it because I couldn’t open any of those things; the anxiety would eat me up. My mom, though only 5’2”, is tough as nails, but even these killed her to read because it meant she was losing her oldest child. She opened it quickly and read over the beginning, quietly mouthing through the words.

“You’re in!!” she shouted. “Duh, I knew you would get accepted, my super smart girl!” she said, her smile stretching ear to ear.

“Oh stop mom,” I laughed. “It’s not that serious. I don’t want to go there anyway. I’m going straight to Georgia.” She didn’t look too happy about that one. Georgia was too far for her, even though I had enough relatives there to make up the student population of UGA. I always hated New England weather and she knew she had a slim chance of getting me to stay. I took the envelope off the table, said, “thanks for the good news,” and returned to my room. I never thought I would end up a freshman at Bridgewater State University, and I especially never thought I would like it.

Later that day, my mother came up to my room.

“Olivia,” she said, “wanna talk about college?”  

I had been talking about college all day every day for months, so the truth was that no, I didn’t want to talk about college. However, I knew she had some important stuff to say, so I suppressed every urge to say, “honestly I don’t even want to go to college at this point,” and decided to listen. We talked about where I wanted to go and how important it is that I’m happy wherever I end up. We talked about everything, except for what was really on her mind: money. I knew the cost of school was going to be a problem, but my parents would never admit it to me.

“Money is for us to worry about, you worry about those grades!” is what my dad always told me. At this point, I knew, regardless of where I really wanted to go, I had to make a smart decision. Did I really want to be paying student loans until I retire? The choice was clear. With great education at a “reasonable” price, Bridgewater was the place for me.