“What is that feeling when you're driving away from people and they recede on the plain till you see their specks dispersing? -- it's the too-huge world vaulting us, and it's good-bye. But we lean forward to the next crazy venture beneath the skies.” - Jack Kerouac, "On the Road"
It's the worst feeling and the best feeling –– leaving one sea, the horizon wavering behind you and dotted with your past, and heading toward the infinite distance, unsure of what lies ahead.
It's the feeling that perfectly describes the transition from high school to college; it's the indescribable sentiment of nostalgia, fear, and excitement. For me, the "too-huge world" expanding in front of me was daunting.
I was scared to leave my family, my friends, my comforts. I was terrified that college would be too far from home and too far from what I was used to. Of course, my fears were valid, and sometimes I do feel like I'm too far removed from my past reality. But other times, I revel in the forward momentum of the interminable sequence of crazy adventures that is life.
College, the specific adventure I'm referring to, is a mismatch of stress, anxiety, friends, fun and more stress –– But what always prevails, through the overwhelming deadlines and the never-ending lectures, are friends. Those people –– new people –– who have just recently encroached on the horizon of my life, their respective specks accumulating and collecting in this new realm.
Friendship is always something to be valued, but there's something special about making friends in a place where everyone knew no one –– everyone has a fresh start to formulate their identity. In some ways, the people you choose as your friends –– or the people who naturally gravitate into inevitable friendship –– highlight your personal identity.
The mix of individuals I've met at college that I'm honored to call my friends are the people I was magnetically bound into friendship with –– the people with whom I choose to spend my time with, the people I choose to complement and contrast my individuality.
My freshman experience would not be the same without these people and I'm more than excited to spend the next few years with them motivating me through my exams and pushing me into the "next crazy venture beneath the skies."