I was born and raised in California. To say that I love California would be an understatement. If I could live on the beach, I most definitely would. I love In-N-Out. I enjoy surfing. I live for the days where the sunshine feels warm on my skin. Being able to wear shorts and dresses in November just makes me happy. In the winter time, we never really got any snow and temperatures rarely dropped below freezing. Growing up, I totally took all of this for granted. I could do pretty much anything I wanted. I loved living close to LA, but far enough away from it that I could still get to the beach, the mountains, or the desert within about an hour’s drive or less. There were tons of cultural foods and events; I enjoyed the diversity of the population. There was never a shortage of things to do or places to go. If you’re thinking that California sounds like a magical place, that’s because it is. In California, I had everything I’ve ever wanted. I never wanted to leave.

However, things changed when I got accepted to a university on the eastern side of Idaho. My first semester, I arrived in January. It was 30 degrees outside and I was terrified. I was colder than I had ever been, not to mention that I was terrified of slipping on the ice that grew on the sidewalks. The icing on the cake that day was when the cashier at the grocery store asked me if I was enjoying the heat wave. Heat wave? This struck fear deep in my heart. It got colder than this? I wondered how I would handle the cold in the coming months. The anxiety set in fast and was unrelenting. Throughout the course of that winter, things got colder and the sun didn’t make many appearances. This California girl had no idea what to do with herself. It wasn’t fun to go on walks when the temperature was consistently around 0 degrees. Doing anything outdoors except for maybe skiing was out of the question. Being new to campus didn’t help either. I didn’t know much about fun events that were going on, so I concluded that Idaho was boring and stupid and cold. My university was surrounded by miles and miles of farm land and there wasn’t even a Target in my town. I couldn’t wait to leave this place. I knew undoubtedly that I was supposed to be at this university, but that didn’t stop me from asking God why he had sent me to my own personal hell.

My attitude stayed like that for a lot longer than it should have. After a few semesters, my coping skills and ability to dress for the cold improved. I still didn’t love it, but I came to accept it, which was huge for me. Over time, I came to understand that God had put different teachers and friends or roommates in my life for a reason. I learned a lot of patience. I persevered. My teachers made it fun to come to class and made me feel like they wanted me to come to their class. I learned to see the good in Idaho and not turn my nose up at anything related to Idaho. I would have never admitted this, but Idaho is actually kinda pretty. This doesn’t mean that I like the snow or winter or anything, but there are some beautiful open spaces in Idaho.

This California girl has learned to adapt, but that still doesn’t mean that my heart isn’t in California. You can take a girl out of California, but you can’t take California out of a girl. I do want to end up in California again, but you never know where life will take you. It is up to you to accept the adventures and learning experiences that are thrown your way, without dragging your feet.