A C172 student pilot made a hard landing during a crosswind landing on a runway chosen because it was the one most directly into the wind.

Narrative

I was cleared to land Runway XY with winds at 240 at 8 KTS. Being a student pilot; Tower gave me the option to land on Runway YX. I chose that runway because there was less of a crosswind to land. On final the winds were shifting a little bit; but I had a good crosswind control into the wind and was tracking center line. I was stabilized. Over the threshold on Runway YX I pulled power to idle and started my round out. At approximately 15-20 [FT] off the ground the winds were at almost a direct crosswind and not enough crosswind control was put in. This caused me to have a hard landing and once on the ground the wind pushed me off the runway to the left. I had crosswind control in; ailerons to the right; and I tried to stay on the runway by putting in right rudder; but I didn't want to put too much in because it would've cause a skid on the runway or a flip of the aircraft. It was a poor decision on my part not to go around. That comes from lack of experience. There was no way of telling exactly where the winds were going to be or at the speed they were at.