There are a million excuses to stay close to home, I get it.
It's convenient.
If there's an emergency, you're right there.
You are really close with your family.
Your significant other is nearby.
I hear you, I really do. But I truly believe that you have to get away from where you're from.
Never in your life will you have an opportunity as unique as going to college. Never again will you be surrounded by so many people your age who have so many different interests. These similarly aged people are important for your growth as a person too.
Let college teach you what it's like to be by yourself. Let college teach you about teamwork, about living with others, about budgeting your time. Let college teach you everything that it's meant to.
Getting away from the familiar is a terrifying concept. Not everyone is going to be able to pick up and move across the country. Not everyone is comfortable with the city or with the country. But it's not supposed to be a comfortable thing. None of this is comfortable. I'm pretty sure most college kids would admit that the initial move was INCREDIBLY uncomfortable. But you'll find your home here at college. You'll have new friends and learn new things in the classroom and learn even more out of it. College has been a wonderful experience, and it's been really nice to get away.
There's a way to balance your home life with this new college life. There's a way to make everything you love have its own place in your heart. This two year or four year or twelve year experience could be the greatest time of learning you'll ever have. You're certainly going to become the best version of yourself.
But only if you pick up, you take the chance, and you get at least an hour away from everything you've previously known. If you're thinking about staying closer than that to home, don't.
Just don't.
There's so much more than that little town.
Everyone you love and everything you know will still be there waiting for you when you get back home.