Some people go to college knowing what to expect, some go thinking they know what to expect, and some go having no clue at all. Some people go having never taken a sip of alcohol and others have been drinking since they were fifteen. No matter who you are, your world is about to flip upside down.

When you go to college, you leave your parents, siblings, home friends, and most importantly, a set of rules and structure. You go from having a curfew of twelve and not being able to hang out with friends on school nights, to being able to stay out all night and sleep through as many classes as you want. You have unlimited freedom, and while that might seem like the best gift in the world, it can also hurt your future.

In high school, everyone has their set group of friends, and while this changes slightly through your four years, it’s nothing major. When you leave for college though, most people leave everyone behind and go start fresh with a new group of friends. You’re older and now your friends won’t be chosen by who’s in your classes or who lives next door. If you don’t want to be friends with someone you don’t have to be, its as simple as that. This allows you to find people that make you a better person instead of trying to be friends with the popular kids. Not only this but your new friends may also be from different states, meaning they may do things very differently from you.

Your new friends and new location will affect what you eat, the music you listen to and maybe even how you talk. Your goals and aspirations may even shift, but it would be for the better. You are learning new things about yourself that help to shape you.

But do you really, really change you may ask? The answer is simply yes. It may only be slightly but you will. You learn to grow up, how to be on your own, and what the real world is really like. And by the end of your four years, you will have changed more than you know and grow into the person you were meant to be.