Being a first generation college student, the thought of living on campus away from my family was a little scary. I never thought I would love it this much.

I grew up in a single parent household where I was the only child. My mom and I are very close, so I did not know how I would do living away from her. I am only an hour from home, but sometimes it feels like hours away. I never thought I would be able to do it; live so far from home, but here I am and I am loving it!

Since I am a shy girl from a small town, I did not know how I would handle living in the city and I was worried about making friends. I had no reason to be worried. Spring Hill is, in my opinion, the best school because everyone is so nice! Within the first week I had a whole group of friends that I would go out to dinner with, or even just sit in the caf and eat. We would sit in the caf for hours and just talk. I never thought I would have met so many amazing people in such a short amount of time at school. It is almost like I have come out of my shell since moving to the Hill. I am doing things now that I never would have imagined doing in high school, and I love doing it.

You can make friends in the weirdest ways! The first week of school I broke my elbow and I got to meet so many people. I fell right in front of the caf, (talk about embarrassing, right?). It didn’t take long for people to come and make sure I was okay. Once they called Public Safety there was at least six people sitting on the ground next to me until Public Safety had gotten there. I even had people that were walking by ask if I was okay. Even the cute guy from my psychology class walked by and asked if I was okay. I had to just play that off like I was just chilling on the ground, like any normal person. By the time Public Safety had called an ambulance for me, there were staff from the school outside to check on me. Most schools would not do that for their students and it made me feel like I was at home.

I am still extremely close with my mom. I call her every night and I see her every weekend. This weekend is the first weekend I am actually staying on campus. It is going to be hard not seeing my mom, but I know it is the best for me because I need to stay on campus and spend time with my new friends. I know my mom supports my decision to go to school and she will support me no matter what happens. My mom is my rock and I don’t know what I would do without her. My mom is my number one fan and I love her for that, but we both know that I need to spend time away from home and learn the ropes of college life.