Going for Refuge . . .

. . . refers to the act that makes someone a Buddhist; it is the conscious decision of the individual to follow a path to the exclusion of other ways of life. This is to say, the individual decides that spiritual development is the primary goal of their life (before, say, making money and having a family) and that the Buddhist tradition is the vehicle for such development.

( "Notes from a Practical Guide to Buddhist Meditation" by Paramananda )