This question often receives an existential or materialist answer. Existentially, I could ask myself why God put me on Earth and what influence He has had on the course of my life, but that question would take far too long to answer and would be impossible to prove. Looking at the problem from a materialistic perspective, I would say that my life is simply a product of my choices, but this solution is simply too superficial. This leads me to think that there may be an explanation for my presence at Methodist University that falls somewhere between existentialism and materialism and that takes into account the reasons for the decisions that led me here; I am at Methodist for several reasons, but the main ones are my competitive nature and my desire for independence and service. Although it may be impossible to determine why some people are competitive and others are not, I know that my upbringing shaped that competitiveness into a desire to excel academically. My older brother set high standards at school and I always aspired to be as successful as him. By the time I graduated from high school, I had a 3.97 grade point average and a strong desire to pursue a college education. Because Spanish has always come easy to me, I decided to pursue a degree in linguistics at the same university my brother attended, the University of Pittsburgh. However, leaving high school brought to the forefront two ambitions that I had never felt during my adolescence, the desire for independence and the desire for service. Although my goals of independence and service did not affect my major decisions until after graduation, I believe they were both a result of my education, as was my orientation toward academics. My father's career as a doctor inspired me to ba...... middle of paper ...... college this spring. Although I would have preferred to attend UNC-Chapel Hill because they offer a linguistics major, that university did not allow transfer students to start mid-year; thus, timing limited my choices between Methodist and Campbell. Finally, having accepted that I would have to forgo a major in the subject I preferred, I considered which of the two colleges would offer me more financial incentives. With Methodist University offering a transfer scholarship and Campbell offering nothing, the choice was clear. Although I still believe that the course of life is the result of one's decisions, I now realize that it is also a reflection of one's character and personality. I know that a year from now, I won't just have a diploma from Methodist University hanging on my wall; thanks to this reflection, I can also understand why and how I ended up there.