From a young age, I was sure that I wanted to be an adventurer, and the nearest true adventure in sight was going to an unknown place for college. I romanced going to South Carolina, to California, and even to Alaska to get my degree. I would spend hours on the computer studying schools' admissions websites, trying to figure out what I needed to do to 1. get into those schools and 2. get scholarships at those schools. University of South Carolina eventually won me over, being a big SEC school, a great academic school, and a beautiful school. Also, being seven hours away from home, it satisfied both my need to get out of the place I grew up and my mom's need for me to be within weekend-trip distance (if you drive fast, believe in yourself, and skip your Friday classes). Since starting school here, I have had no regrets in my decision. Sometimes I feel homesick, but that's mostly when I'm on the way back to school after a break. I have to say, though, I think I'd feel the same way even if I lived an hour from school.

I am so beyond happy with my choice to go to a brand new place for school, and it has brought so many more new positives to my (already pretty awesome) life.

• When I am home, I don't take the time with my fam for granted, since I only get to go once or twice a semester, and when they come to visit me, it's a really big and exciting deal!!!
• I've become much more independent being in a "foreign" place. I had to figure out, not only a whole new city, but a whole new state that I had been to twice before I moved in to my dorm.
• I've become more adaptable. Even though Columbia is still within the southern comfort zone, the culture here is pretty different, and it took a minute to get used to it. Not to mention, it took some time to get used to going out in this heat without wishing I had looked more at schools in Michigan.
• I got to have a fresh start. I was in the same school system from kindergarten to graduation, moving once just across town, not even changing schools. I was with all the same people for 13 years, and while it was great to never really have to make new friends, I really wanted to have to make new friends, who didn't have any preconceptions about me. Going to a school where only four people from my graduating class went, I had to do that, and it has been amazing.
• I'm close to the beach and the mountains, now. Adventure awaits, am I right?
• I had to learn how to maintain relationships over the phone. I can't just make last minute plans to head back to Nashville for the weekend. With all of the construction going on in east Tennessee and in the North Carolina mountains, my seven hour trip can easily turn into an eight and a half hour one, if I don't plan well. Because of this, I have to remember to call my mom, dad, and sister, so they don't forget about me or me them, since I can't just come home for a day or two.
• I'm pretty confident that I would not have tried Greek life at any school besides USC, so if I had not stepped out of the comfort of my family's historic college or of my high school class' most chosen school, I wouldn't have found such amazing sisters to share these four years with!