I remember being a senior in high school and dreading for college to begin. Not to be misunderstood, I was very excited to be in college, to finally be going to school to learn about things I wanted and to have much more freedom than high school offered me. I just wasn't excited for the fact I didn't get to experience going away to school and learning what it is like to live on your own. Unlike everyone else starting their new chapter at a university away from home, I was going to a community college and staying home. It wasn't what I wanted at all, until I realized I was in an ideal situation. My job paid for all of my schooling. Meaning while everyone already had student loans stacked, I was still debt free. I mean if the first two years of college are filled with prerequisites anyway, why not pay a smaller fee or how I lucked out, not pay at all?

Through the end of my junior year and through my senior year of high school, I changed what I wanted to study in college many times. In the first semester of my freshman year in college I picked a major, public relations, and was very content with going forward with studying just that. I love writing and am pretty decent when it comes to English, so why not major in what I am good at right? Second semester came around and I was enrolled in introductory psychology. I had always been interested in psychology, so I decided to take it for fun. Little did I know, that I would have a professor who changed my whole perspective. It turns out I love psychology, I mean capital L-O-V-E, love psychology. Since that professor taught how I learned, I was so intrigued and I changed my major. I realized that, even though I love writing as a hobby and tend to succeed in English classes, it doesn't mean I have to make it a living. To me, picking a major is about what you want to learn and are passionate/ interested in, not about what you've already been good at. That teacher opened my eyes to a whole span of ideas and paths for my life.

Commuting to college wasn't my first choice, but if I hadn't gone, I would have never met this professor, and quite possibly could have never realized what I truly wanted to do. I could have settled with English, but this way I can excel with psychology. I'll never know if that professor will ever understand how grateful I am for the spark she lit up inside of me, but I do know I'm very excited to take her other psychology class that she teaches in the fall.

Being a commuting student did have its perks and I'm ready to finish up my time as one in this upcoming school year. I think I've gained a lot, for a price I didn't even have to pay. I'm ready to move forward into a field I am so excited to keep learning about, but I think I'm most excited to see what life has in store for me at my future university.

Cheers to new journeys and new dreams.

Xoxo Lauren