As of May 2016, I am a college graduate. Five years ago, I never would have pictured my college journey the way it happened. When I graduated high school in 2011, I thought I had a pretty solid plan for my future. But this article isn't about my major or even what I am currently pursuing. It is about what many people can relate to, change. All throughout my four years of high school I was in a serious relationship. So serious that in fact that I thought I was with the person I was going to marry. I thought I would love my school, keep the same relationship and friendships and it would all be safe and simple. Little did I know, that would all change after graduation.

So I went away to a small college in Pennsylvania to pursue my education and to meet new people. I even stepped out of my comfort zone and tried out for the field hockey team there. Months went by and although I was making friends, I mostly spent my time obsessing over missing my boyfriend and family. I was miserable and I eventually found myself driving home almost every weekend.

As you can guess, my relationship fell through due to distance and other incidents that quite honestly I never thought I would get past at the time. Needless to say, I was devastated and I felt as if I had hit a dead end at this point in my life. In my mind, I had a completely different idea of what my experience away at school would be, not like this. I was unhappy at my school and my grades were suffering because of it. After the end of my first year, I decided that a change needed to be made.

I then found the school that I would transfer to, Shepherd University. I had heard about it through my best friend from high school that went there. I liked that it was a small school and that it wasn't too far from my house so I could see my family when I wanted. At this point I figured that anything could be better than the situation I was in before. I had no idea how much this change would transform my life for the better.

For the first time in my life, I felt like I was getting a fresh start at being the person I wanted to be. I quickly made friends and found myself wanting to go home less and less. Before I transferred to this new place, my world was so small. I believed that a relationship was a make or break factor in my life and that I would be lost without it, that I would be lost without a safety net of the life I knew. I now look at the friendships I've made, the degree I graduated with, and the lessons I've learned along the way and I can't believe that I was ever that person who was too scared to take much of a chance on anything.

During my years away at college, I truly believe that I transformed as a person. I discovered my passion in social work and created an unbelievable bond with my cohorts. I traveled abroad to a Third World country and had my perspective completely changed on the goodness that life has to offer us and what we have to offer others. I went on to join a sorority and created life long bonds with an amazing group of women. These are experiences that never would have happened without taking a chance.

You are not the same person you were a month ago, a week ago, or even yesterday. Change is a terrifying thing and not something that many people want to endure. But the reality is that change is the one thing that open our eyes to the possibility of how many opportunities life has for us. So now, at the age of 23, I Iook back and I am incredibly thankful for the changes in my and how they forced me to step out of my comfort zone and make me who I am today. Don't be afraid to do the same.