When it comes to college, there are so many choices that people can make. Private college or state university? Close to home or miles away? Living on campus or staying at home? Obviously, there's a huge range of reasons people choose the college experience they choose. For some people, it makes sense to stay close to home, but if you're stuck between staying at home or going a few hours away, maybe a few states away, I recommend the latter.
That was my decision. Not just a few hours or a state away. I moved 1,000 miles away: 17 hours by car, two and a half hours by plane. Obviously, I'm not encouraging everyone to pack up and move across the country, but there are some big pros to moving far away.
1. You learn to take care of yourself.
No matter how self-sufficient you may have been at home, moving away to college is a totally different beast than living at home. You don't have anyone to make sure you're doing your homework or checking up that you've been eating. You have to be able to feed yourself healthy food occasionally, do your own laundry and get some sleep eventually. If you have a car, you may need to figure out how to check your oil. You will at some point need to make your own doctor's appointments. Moving away to college makes you even more independent than you ever thought you could be.
2. You have to make new friends.
I knew no one when I came to college. Obviously, I had talked to my roommates since the summer but I'd never actually met them. I didn't have any high school friends here. I had to fend for myself, join some clubs and make real friends. If I had stayed close to home, not only would I have never met my best friend, I may not have been able to open up outside my comfort zone and actually go out and meet new people.
3. It makes you appreciate your parents and all they do for you.
When I do get the chance to go home, I really appreciate when my dad makes dinner, when my mom folds my laundry and the time I get to spend with them. When you're at college you don't get to just hang out with your mom after a bad day, and you have to cook and clean and fend for yourself. You learn to cherish the phone calls and video dates with your parents.
4. It puts the world in perspective.
The fact that I've made a life for myself so far away makes me feel like I can conquer the world. I love my city right now, but I know I don't want to be here forever either. I feel like I could really move anywhere and figure it out myself at this point. It also makes the world feel so small, being so far away from home.
5. You learn to appreciate your home.
I only get to go home every now and then, so when I do I make it a point to visit my favorite coffee shop, drive on my favorite roads and visit some of my favorite stores. I wouldn't want to live there forever, but only getting a little taste of your hometown every now and then really makes you appreciate it more than when you were a kid.
6. You really just have all of the independence in the world.
At home, I would never try to go get McDonald's at 1 a.m., or venture off to friends dorms at late hours of the night just to watch a movie. Having a lot of independence doesn't mean you have to make bad decisions, but you really get to just do what you want. It's really freeing to make all of your own decisions.
