I have been having a lot of trouble making a decision with my college career. I have played softball since I was little and won many awards, championships, and named top athlete in my state 2 years in a row. I got recruited to play D3 softball my senior year by many schools and eventually took one of them up on their offer and moved several states away to go to a small college and play sports. After my first semester I have been doing very well in academics and sports. I earned a 3.6gpa my first semester and worked my way up to a starting position on the team. Unfortunately, as I’ve been taking classes and exploring my options, ive been feeling like there is better opportunity back home with academics (one of the top colleges with my major is back home), I have not been happy with the team despite our success, and I’ve been feeling extremely homesick. I worry that quitting will crush my parents leaving them extremely disappointed in me. I worry they will not understand my decision even though I feel that the academics is much more important. I do not want to let them down or upset them even though I know there is nothing for me after my 4 years with softball. I love the sport so much but maybe it is just time to let go? I’ve been torn up about this and I hope my parents are able to see how much thought I’ve given this and how mature of a decision I think it is. Do I move home and pursue a better and more challenging academic path and quit the sport I love?
being brutally honest, how much is the extreme homesickness affecting your evaluation of the situation?
You may have thought a lot about how great it would be to move home, but your post doesn’t show any evidence of (analytical) thought beyond saying that you feel that the college back home has a “better and more challenging academic path”.
Do you mean that you won’t be pursuing a professional career in softball, so spending 4 years doing it in college is a waste of time?
I don’t see any harm in submitting a transfer application to the school back home. You can’t really know right now how you’ll feel after the competitive season in the spring (it’s always a spring sport, isn’t it?), but at least you’ll have options.
I can’t speak for your parents, but I wouldn’t be disappointed if my daughter discovered an academic path she was excited about and wanted to pursue a more challenging program at the expense of a sport. I wouldn’t be disappointed to see more of her if she wanted to be closer to home, either! Maybe your folks are more invested in softball than I’m imagining. But as you say… the sport’s value is really in your enjoyment - it’s not like you’re going to make a living at softball after college. (I mean, unless you see yourself pursuing a career in coaching or something like that, but it sounds like that isn’t your plan.)
Submit that transfer app and then try to table it. You’re clearly in it for the semester and the season, where you are, so try to “be present” where you are and see how that goes. If you still feel the same way by the end of the year, hopefully your transfer option will be all lined up… and if not, nothing lost but the application fee.
There’s the question of when to talk to your parents about it - I’m sure they’ll want to be included in your decision process - but there’s really not going to be anything to decide until May, so you have plenty of time to process with them.