bliptrip

Hey Everyone, Due to multiple reasons, from feelings of obligations to pressure from friends and family, I had signed a contract last April to attend a PhD program at University of Washington-Seattle. After some real soul searching, advice from a girlfriend, and advice from other students seeking their PhD, I was advised to not go through with the program given that it is not something that really interests me. I now want to politely decline my contract, but do not know how to do it honestly without looking like a fool, in addition to feeling horrible since this may have prevented someone who was wait-listed from getting into the program. But, I figure it's the adult thing to gracefully renege on the contract, rather than make myself and others miserable by forcing myself through this program. Any advice on how to do this? Anyone else had to do this? -bliptrip-