'to college I went' vs. 'I went to college'
My parents insisted upon college instead of a conservatory of music, and to college I went - quite happily, as I remember, for although I loved my violin and spent most of my spare time practicing, I had many other interests.

If I say '..., and I went to college - quite happily...', is there any difference from the emotion of the original sentence?

Question

'to college I went' vs. 'I went to college'
My parents insisted upon college instead of a conservatory of music, and to college I went - quite happily, as I remember, for although I loved my violin and spent most of my spare time practicing, I had many other interests.

If I say '..., and I went to college - quite happily...', is there any difference from the emotion of the original sentence?

Answer

Hello Sanya:

There is no difference really.  Those are two ways of saying the same thing.
"So I went to college" is the more commonly used expression, but the other expression
("to college I went")  is also used.

I might say for comparison.   "I left  college  and went to join the army."

I would say the same thing this way;  "I left college and to the army I went."

The first sentence would be the more common form. In English sentences, it is not as common  to place the verb at the end of the sentence.

I would not usually say;  "I needed food, and so to the grocery store I went."

I would commonly say;  "I needed food, and so I went to the grocery store."

Hope that helps.

Answer

'to college I went' vs. 'I went to college'

Both will work, but the first one is a bit funny, sounds a bit British or prudish.

"I went to college" is standard speech in America.