College is an exciting time for most American 18-year-old students. A new chapter in their lives is beginning; they’re official adults; the high school BS is over and done with, and so on and so forth.

But that’s not how I felt when I enrolled in my first college class at my community college through a dual-enrollment program as a 16-year-old. Sure, a new chapter in my life was starting, but I didn’t even have my driver’s license yet, and my junior year – the most difficult year in my opinion – was on the horizon. I was going to be a college freshman as a high school junior.

College enrollment is already challenging enough for the average college student, so it was 10 times harder when I had to do it, but had no idea what degree path I was going on, what I wanted to be, whether I wanted to get my associate’s degree, and what classes would be difficult at my age. The worst part was getting the least priority in picking classes. I had a three-hour lab at 7 a.m. and a class that began at 4:30 p.m. All of the good teachers were taken and all of the classes were at full capacity. Needless to say, many tears were shed.

The first day of school arrived. The first thing I thought when I walked in on campus was, “Wow. It’s so clean.” The carpets were spotless and there wasn’t trash thrown all over the floor. Students from different walks of life were congregating all around the designated hang-out spots and study areas dispersed around the school. I felt like such a freshman with my wide eyes, rush to get to class, and ability to get lost on a realistically tiny campus.

I was struck with a significant realization as my teacher passed out the syllabus in my first period class. I didn’t know the norms and etiquette of college. It was only 30 minutes into the lecture when I realized I really needed to pee. Of course, being an overthinking, awkward teenager I didn’t dare ask to go to the bathroom or stand up and exit the room quietly. As I later found out through my snickering mom, you don’t have to ask to leave the room. You just simply get up and walk out. It was a foreign concept to a high school student who had to ask if she could sharpen her pencil.

This bathroom freedom wasn’t the only type of freedom I experienced, and soon began to cherish. I loved the freedom of picking out the classes I wanted to take and when to take them, being able to leave class early since the lecture was completed, leaving right after I turn in a test, missing a class altogether since the teacher was absent, being able to leave campus whenever to grab some grub, asking a teacher for help outside of class, and receiving quality education with other motivated people. I got all of this and more for free. Yep, that’s right. I was able to receive college education at no cost (for the most part). For once in my life, I truly enjoyed going to school.

And to think I almost rejected this awesome opportunity. It was tough for me to decide if I wanted to open a new chapter in my life, or if I wanted to stick with the familiar. If I went to this new school, I’d be leaving my friends, my favorite teachers, and my genuine high school experience behind. I would have to say goodbye to theater, the mythology elective I really wanted to take, graduating with friends, and active involvement in the clubs I joined. But then I really thought about what I would be missing out on. I would also have to say goodbye to AP tests, petty drama and gossip, gross cafeteria food, useless classes, obnoxious students, unsupportive teachers, dirty floors, waking up at 5:30 a.m. every morning, crowded hallways, a full schedule, judgmental cliques, one 30-minute break, before and after school traffic, low maintenance bathrooms, how the athletics department was favored the most, short winter breaks, the dress code, and the public school system. When I created a pros and cons list for going to my public high school instead of participating in the program at the community college, the cons cripplingly out-weighed the pros. Even though the results of attending this new school were way more advantageous, I was still terrified and anxious about cutting ties with very close friends.

In the end, things turned out swimmingly. I was able to get a head start on my college career for free, my relationships with my friends actually improved, I befriended like-minded individuals, my teachers were phenomenal, and the classes weren’t too bad. My third year as a high school student and my first year as a college student was very unique from the standard high school junior and college freshman. I didn’t agree with my friends that said, “Junior year was so hard,” because, to me, it wasn’t. I wasn’t able to experience buying Ramen or moving into a dorm as a first-year college student since my first year was spent enjoying my mom’s homemade Filipino dishes and savoring the comfort of my own room. The stress and struggle of navigating the college ropes at an early age will definitely pay off when I graduate university two years earlier than I would have at a comprehensive high school.