A lot of students go to school close to home, and others go to school pretty far away. I’m somewhere in between, and even though I could, I don’t go home often.

It just doesn’t make sense, especially if you have siblings. They’ve got their own life, their own hobbies, and they don’t stop their schedule just because you’re in town. They’re probably on a different school schedule than you, your parents probably have to work and your friends are probably in school themselves.

When you go home for Christmas or for the summer, that’s a different story. In theory, everyone has more free time to spend together, but going home during the school year just doesn’t make sense to me.

My friends, my favorite activities, my life is all here at school. I don’t need my mom to cook dinner for me or do my laundry. I’m an adult, and there’s no need to make a long drive every weekend or two to do the things that I could do at school anyways. I was raised to stand on my own to feet and spread my wings. College is the time to fly.

I get it, some people are really close with their families and want to feel like they’re still at home because that’s where they’re comfortable, but for me, that’s not why I came to my university. If that’s the way you want to spend your four years, then to each their own, but that experience isn’t for me.

If I wanted to be at home all the time, I would’ve gone to a community college down the road from my house. My choice of school had just as much to do with potential my life experience as it did with the academic standards of the school.

So no, I don’t want to go home for everyone’s birthday or for every little thing. I want to be there for the holidays, graduations and important events. I want to be there when the entire family gets together for dinner, not every dinner every weekend. I made the choice to go to school away from home for a reason.

Different things work for different people. I want my own life separate from home while I'm in college, and that’s okay. I'm choosing to fly.