I turned down a (academic) scholarship offer to MIT for just that reason. The thought of being 18 years old, 1500 miles from home, and not knowing a single person on campus, was not very appealing to me. Of course at the time, I was not fully cognizant of what an engineering degree from MIT was all about.
Knowing what I know now, I certainly would have. I just really didn't grasp the magnitude of the opportunity. Selfishly, I knew my parents would pay for me to go to LSU and I never fully explored the opportunity. It was all about being close to my homies. I was an ignorant, selfish sob in that regard at that time. Pretty sad... /end derail
Don't second-guess yourself. If your head wasn't in it, you would probably have failed spectacularly. I turned down the job offer of a lifetime at age 29 because I was an only child with aging parents and was worried that I couldn't assist them living 1,500 miles away. My head just wasn't in it and warning bells went off.
My brother gave up a chance to go to West Point because it was to far, he was young and didn't appreciate what West Point was, and because he wasn't sure if he wanted to be a career military officer. He's now a retired Colonel and wonders exactly how much more he would have accomplished if he'd gone to West Point instead of LSU. But that La. to West Point and beyond step was a very BIG step to make back in the day.
And mine wasn't either... Which is the real point of me bringing it up. Sometimes 18 year old kids like being able to go home.
Looking like what I have feared from the beginning is becoming a reality. Mama knows best unless your are Landon Collins.
This really should come as no surprise just given the geography. And really, it's okay. We are covered for the next three to four years with the talent we have on the team right now and Gunner isn't the last QB in the world. But hell, look on the bright side, at least we'll have something to argue about until the Spring game.
