Growing up, the worst thing I could imagine was ending up at a college close to home. I was horrified at the thought of applying to any colleges in my home state, even though many of them have phenomenal academic reputations. To add another layer of this desperate need-to-leave feeling, no public schools in my state offered my desired major. So, when all was said and done, I really had no choice but to go out of state. I'm not going to lie, I was ecstatic at the thought of leaving and going, well, anywhere else. However, there were several things I didn't consider before settling on a school so far away from home...
10. Moving in is seriously hard!
Okay, so this one is fairly general. Moving into a freshman dorm is indisputably difficult for everyone involved on various emotional and physical levels. However, in-state and close-by students have the ability to bring multiple cars and multiple people with them to help. As for me, I packed as much as I could into my mother's Nissan Rogue (it was a very tight fit) and brought only two people.
Not only did I have less ability to bring whatever I wanted, but also it took a long time and several trips up a narrow dormitory stairwell to get all my boxes and suitcases into my room. And with only three of us, it wasn't easy to get everything set up before my mom and brother had to head out.
9. You'll hear some unfamiliar terms.
Believe it or not, I didn't know what Wawa was before college. And, in New Jersey, gas stations have a different meaning than in most states. I didn't know what a pork roll was, why people cared so much about the central jersey debate, and I grossly underestimated what the Light Rail was. Most of these things get less strange with time, but there are still some things I'm unsure about.
8. Unless you frequently visited your school state, the area is going to be a shocking difference.
Before moving in to Rowan, I'd been to New Jersey only three times prior. Two of those times involved the Newark airport and the other time was my one (and only) tour of my eventual school. Therefor, I didn't understand the area at all. On a map, Rowan looked really close to Philadelphia, so I figured I would go there a lot. However, New Jersey transit is questionable at best and the tolls/parking are too expensive to drive into the city too frequently.
I also thought every part of NJ was close to Manhatten-- but that's something I was so wrong about that we should just forget.
7. You probably won't know anyone.
My high school newspaper published a page on all the colleges and states where the graduating seniors were going. I was excited that, not only was I the only student headed to Rowan, but also I was the only one going to a school in New Jersey. Honestly, I didn't think it could get better than that. After all, it was a fresh start. What more could I ask for?
... Well, one thing in particular comes to mind.
It might not seem like much to have one person you know ahead of time at your school, but it is. It sucked that I didn't know anyone going into Rowan and I didn't even do the in-person auditions for theatre, which is where many of my classmates met. I kinda wish I could have known even one person at Rowan, just to have a friendly face to see after struggling to make friends from nothing more than a shared academic institution.
6. There will probably be a difference in temperature.
In the early months, there wasn't a huge difference between Glassboro, NJ and Atlanta, GA. Now, depending on your view, this could be a good or bad thing. Good because it could make the transition from one state to another considerably less difficult, or bad because it doesn't give much of a heads-up to the coming winter. I considered it a terrible thing because my dorm didn't have air conditioning. Thankfully, as the months turned from fall to winter, it got colder and more tolerable living in the dorm. However, it was really different. It snowed two days in the week before I went home for winter break, and back in Georgia it was about sixty degrees. At night. And there's more winter yet to come.
5. Your friends from colleges back home will hang out a lot, and it will sting.
When most of your friends go to a school less than fifteen minutes away from their childhood home, they tend to get together. It sucked reading group chat messages about my church friends heading to the movies and to lazer tag when I was twelve hours away. Even some other friends in schools in Tennessee and South Carolina came home several times. I saw snapchats and instagram posts and, guys, the FOMO was strong. I knew that no one could help, really, because it wasn't like they didn't invite me-- I just had no way of going, and that somehow made it worse.
4. All you'll want is to see your pets.
After a few weeks at school, I missed my cat so freaking much. Throughout the semester I tried several methods to deal with this, from binge-watching cat videos to facetiming my sister so she could show me my kitty in real time. It's hard to leave your pets, especially since they don't understand why you're gone and they don't know when you're coming back.
3. It's hard to make friends (especially for an introvert).
Upon first impression, I don't seem like an introvert. I'm talkative and friendly-- frequently too much so. However, it doesn't take long to retreat within my shell. So, when I need a certain amount of alone time per day to charge up my social energy, I miss out on a lot, especially in that initial welcome week. It's tough being so lonely when it seems like so many people already know each other.
2. There's a very high chance that you'll fall behind in your religious practices.
To be fair, I didn't try very hard and that's all on me. But even people who want to worship regularly will forget amongst the hodge podge of college. I kept telling myself that next Sunday I would go to the Catholic service on campus, but it kept slipping my mind and I wouldn't remember until eight P.M on Sunday night. If your religious practices are important to you, make friends with those of similar affiliations so you can keep each other responsible.
1. You will miss your family more than you could possibly imagine.
Last but most painful of all, you will never realize the extent to which you will miss your family while away at school. SInce I went so far, I was unable to come home for Thanksgiving. There was a four month gap in which the only times I saw my family were on social media. You can bet that when I saw them for the first time during winter break, I pretty much tackled them. That being said, once I was home, I really didn't feel like any time had passed.
Despite these obstacles, I know that I won't regret my choice to go out of state. In these next few years as I complete my studies and make lifelong memories, I will grow as a person. I can't say that right now I see myself being blissfully happy at college, but I hope that the next few years will be formative in shaping me into the person I'm excited to become.
