Hey guys! So, I attended my first semester of grad school at University of Kentucky and I did not have the best experience there. I primarily moved there (from Seattle) b/c I had hopes of getting back together with my ex or at least restarting our friendship b/c he used to be one of my best friends. He ended up disappearing on me for the 2nd time and I was crushed. I really hoped he would at least be a better friend to me, and help me adjust to the new surroundings (introduce me to ppl, show me around, etc.). He invited me to go visit him at work but I chose not to, and he blew me off twice when we were supposed to hangout. He later told me he had too much going on with work and never meant to ignore me and wasn't blowing me off intentionally but it was too little too late. My first few months there the girl that was going to be my roommate committed suicide. It was terrible and really sad. She was my only other friend there aside from my ex. I told him what happened and I never got a response, let alone, an 'are you ok', which I would have easily been there for him had the tables been reversed. I felt like I was doing okay out there until she died, but it really struck a cord with me b/c I lost my younger brother to suicide 10 years ago and did not want to go through that kind of pain again. I also had a very unfocused advisor and was getting no work experience and not a great financial aid package (loans yes but paying out of state tuition and no graduate assistantship). I told myself that it wasn't worth it if I graduated with no experience. I came home to Seattle to visit and was sad I didn't get to see a lot of my friends. I expected to be okay with things and told myself that I could get through it since I'd been through this before, but it all hit me like a bus. I went and talked to one of my teachers (not my advisor) and he was sweet and understanding to me basically in tears in his office. My advisor told me he wanted me to stay, but they never offered much incentive for me to stay. My other teacher was wonderful and emailed other departments and tried so hard to get more financial aid for me, but he never got responses from the other teachers (even though he is very respected at UK). I came back to UK in June and was miserable, no car, no roommates, hard to make friends...and it got too lonely and I wanted to just come home for summer. My dad told me that since I already moved back that it wouldn't be worth it, and that I couldn't just hang on to my apartment for the summer. I was really disappointed and didn't know what to do. I basically got really mad at everything and sad and just left without saying goodbye.
I still miss it sometimes and have been questioning my decision lately. For now, I am attending WSU online but I do miss being in a classroom (not enough to live in Pullman) but I miss my peers/friends at UK too. I moved back home with my Dad and it's been miserable. My big sister was having a baby and getting married and I wanted to be here for that so I did, but now I find myself regretting the decision. WSU has been fine and my advisor rocks compared to UK (actually answers phone calls and return emails and gives good advice versus not being present or particularly helpful). Initially I moved because all my friends here are married and I barely see them. I wanted a new experience and there's not a lot keeping me here right now. My Dad and I get along okay, but he is so high stress and short tempered that living at home is so hard. That was a big part of why I moved too b/c I am not fan sometimes of the way I am treated or talked to. I have talked to him about it several times but it never changes. I don't have a full-time job so I can't move out again yet unless I move away for school again. I would rather be in Lexington than in Pullman, personally. Although culturally (Seattle and Lexington) are so vastly different its like two separate worlds. It was a rough transition and I hated how lonely I felt after my friend died and I didn't hear anything from my ex (who used to be one of my best friends). After I moved back home I fell into a pretty bad depression (I think I had been fighting it for awhile before everything happened). I am usually pretty optimistic and happy, and never really had a big problem with depression. I came home and saw a doctor and they diagnosed me with having a major depressive episode. Most people only have one in a lifetime then fully recover in 6 months to a year and are completely fine. My doctor and therapist are very optimistic for me and say that my prognosis is excellent and that I've been working really hard at doing a good job. My depression is in remission (yay!) and I will be tapering off anti-depressants after my sixth month on them (in December). I've never been on them before this year and have never been through anything like this before, but I am so glad to be getting better and getting on the other side of things. I guess the main thing is I just would like some advice and thank you for reading
I mainly don't know if I should stay in Seattle (at WSU) or give UK another shot, so anything helps!