"I cannot wait to get far away from this place," is a common phrase for the high schoolers in my little town. I said it once or twice...a day. Senior year was here and I knew that I did not want to go to my backyard college. (Okay maybe not quite in my backyard but close enough.) I wanted to get as far away from this place as I possibly could. I did. I went 30 miles away from home. That's far enough away...for me.

If you were anything like me as a senior, you wanted to be as far away from home when you graduated as your parents allowed you to be. I wanted to be free, independent and somewhere new. I got just that.

I am exactly where I said I did not want to be and I could not be happier. How does that make me happy? How is that even possible? Here is why.

30 miles is far but yet close enough...it all depends on how you look at it.

I can proudly say I am exactly 37 miles away from my house. That's almost an hour away...or that's under an hour. It's a good thing no matter how I look at it.

I can, but don’t have to, see my family.

One of the conditions I set with my parents before going to school so close to home was that they would treat me as if I went to school in a different state and not expect me to come home all of the time. This was great to establish because at this point it is second nature for them (and me) that I am not ever really expected at home but it’s always there for me when I need it.

I already know my way around.

One of the best ways to make friends as a freshman, as I found out, was knowing where all of the good places to eat were. It does not take long to get sick of the campus dining hall and when times became desperate, I was the one to ask where to eat. (The old Mi Casitas is WAY better than the new one.)

Weekend trips home for you are day time trips for me.

My college friends had to make plans back home weeks in advance. "Is there anything at school going on this weekend I may miss? Is this a good weekend to go home?" Me on the other hand could just drive home for the day and not think twice about it.

Going to my backyard college was definitely a blessing in disguise.

I am free. I can do what I want when I want too. I can go where I want to go and I do not have a curfew.

I am independent. I can do my own laundry, make my own dinner, make appointments, attend meetings and etc.

I am somewhere new. I have lived in my same little town my whole life. Moving 30 miles away put me in a whole new town. There's new faces and new street names.

The college I told myself I would not attend ended up being my dream school. My backyard college was the perfect choice for me.