It's your last day of high school. You wake up at 6am, get out of bed, take a shower, get dressed, eat breakfast, brush your teeth, and head out the door. You go to homeroom, then to class, then to lunch, then back to class, and finally, home.

Almost every day of your life has been this way for the past four years (or more, no judgement here), but now it is over. Like many of us, you are now taking the next step in life: you are headed to college.

You are leaving behind your years of rigid scheduling, early morning bus rides, and having to ask permission to do anything and everything. You are stepping into a life of choosing your own classes, making your own way, and having to rely on your own judgements. If you are like me, or anyone making the journey from high school to college, you are terrified of this change, but excited at the same time.

When I was moving from high school to college, I was scared of what the change would bring. Would I like college? Was I choosing the right major? Would I make any friends? Would I get along with my roommate?

I was so worried about these things that I ended up going to therapy, and I talked about it with my therapist. I told her about my anxieties and she told me this: Change is necessary.

The more that I thought about it, the more that I realized how many changes I had already been through. I had gone from living with my mother all the time as a kid to going to preschool, then from preschool to elementary school, then on to middle and high school. I had gone through the change of being an only child to being an older sister. I had gone through the change of having no friends to having a large supportive group of theater friends.

I had lived through all of these changes and I had turned out okay, so college was just one more change, though a large one.

My therapist also told me that I was not the only one who would be going through changes at that time. Hundreds of other students were also making the choice to go to my college of choice. My parents would be left with one child in their house instead of two. My sister would have to learn how to live without her older sister nagging her all the time or giving her advice. My friends who were still in high school would be moving to their senior year, and they would be down one (fabulous) friend. I was not alone in this time of change. No one is ever alone in this time of change.

My advice to those heading off to college this year is simple: Do not be afraid of change. Change is necessary, and it will bring about great things.