Around this time two years ago, I was the incoming college freshmen who wanted more than anything to have a different experience than she had in high school. High school was a miserable experience for me and I refuse to say it was the best four years of my life. I will never consider four years of being ignored and made fun by people that I would have done almost anything to be friends with, as the best time of my life.

I wanted my college experience to be one that I actually enjoyed and one that I could honestly say was the best time of my life so far. I purposefully applied to schools that I knew that few people in my class applied to because I didn't want to feel like I was re-living high school all over again. I ended up deciding to attend a university 245 miles from everything that I knew for 18 years.

I needed the distance because I was desperate for a fresh start. I wanted nothing more than to be able to gain back the confidence that I lost all those years ago when I was made fun of every day. I craved to be able to wear whatever I wanted without someone making a comment that jean jackets were out of style. I dreamed of the day when I would finally be to no longer care about what anyone else thought and to be able to delete everyone from high school on social media.

Now as a rising third-year student, I can honestly say that the past two years have been the best years of my life so far. I won't say that the last two years have been perfect because nothing is ever perfect, but I will say that they have been filled with more happy moment than sad moments. College is a wild time but it's been the best time.

I'm slowly gaining back the confidence that I lost all those years ago. I'm no longer afraid to raise my hand in class to answer a question because I know snickers won't accompany my answer. I wear whatever I want now because no one is making snide comments about my outfit in front of me and I feel no stress in the morning while I'm trying to pick out my outfit

I'm not saying that this confidence is evident in everything I do because sometimes the comments and remarks from the past haunt me. They haunt me when I'm getting ready to talk in front of the class and when I put on my dress that looks fantastic on me. My new found confidence disappears when I run into someone from high school when I'm back home at the grocery store.

I have the greatest friends I have ever had in my entire life and I don't know how I survived for 18 years before I met them. My college friends have helped me grow so much as a person and have played a huge part in me gaining my confidence back. I'm always encouraged to do or wear whatever I want and if they don't think it's a good idea then they nicely explain to me that I need to do something else.

High school was the worst time of my life and I'm happy that those miserable four years are way in my past. I'm finally to the point where I have deleted most of the people I went to high school with on social media because I don't want to see their posts and I don't want them to know anything about me. The last two years have been incredible and what high school me could only have dreamed of.

For all the other girls that are being told that they should miss high school and it was the best four years of your life, please tell whoever is telling you that inaccurate information that they are wrong. You will find where you belong in college and you will have experiences that you could only have dreamed of. The four or five years you spend in college will be much better than those years spent in high school and will have you living your best life.