Making the biggest decision yet

For the last nine months or so, one major question has been on my mind: Where am I going to go to college?

There is just something about not knowing that scared me so much. So I began searching for my "fit" -- that place in which I was comfortable and that offered me everything I was looking for. One major thing my college had to offer was a good basketball team to play on.

Putting sports into the equation proved to be difficult. Academics also were important. Even though I am not 100 percent sure what I am going to be when I grow up, I do know that the school I attend needs to have a strong English/communications department.

After sending out game tapes to most schools in about a 100-mile radius, I heard back from a lot of schools. I then began to play the "So-and-so college has just what you need" or "Come here and we will pay for your school" game. After talking with coaches and looking at curriculums I narrowed the search down to three colleges.

I visited all these colleges and put a face to the coach I had been talking to since the summer. I then applied and got accepted into all three schools.

I had no clue how I was going to pick. Each college had different things that I liked about it. So I searched for guidance. I asked my friends, my parents and my teachers for their advice. This just led me to become even more confused because everyone had different opinions. Then I sat down and had a heart-to-heart conversation with our wonderful guidance counselor.

She told me the cold, hard truth. She explained that this was not up to her, or to my parents, or even my friends. The only person who could decide was me.

Having that much responsibility is a scary thing. What if I pick the wrong one, or what if I don't like it once I pick it?

This was a huge deal.

She encouraged me to pray and to relax. She told me that she trusted I could handle it and that it would all work out.

I prayed and asked God to show me a sign or a way for me to know where to go. I then went on another visit to Webster University in St. Louis. It was an overnight stay, and I got to stay with the team. That visit was so much fun. I loved the team and the school and the coach so much I knew I could not go anywhere else. The search was over, and I announced to my parents and my soon-to-be new coach that Webster was where I wanted to attend college.

Amber Karnes is a senior at Notre Dame Regional High School.