I am in my second semester as a freshman at the College of Charleston in South Carolina. As a student, I have enjoyed my time here so far on campus. It is so beautiful and I've never come across any other campus like it. The one downside about the campus though is that it is very far from my hometown in Pennsylvania. With them being so far from each other, they also differ in many ways. My college experience down here would be way different than up there in Pennsylvania.

First things first, I cannot say "pop" for a carbonated drink without getting weird shocked looks. I have yet to adapt to the word "soda", but I'm working on it. There has not been any other lingo that I've come across, but maybe I haven't been here quite long enough yet.

I've been here long enough to feel how tough it is to be away from your parents. Although there is a lot of freedom that comes with going to school out-of-state, you miss your parents being close. You no longer have your mom or dad there to give you warm blankets and soup when you're sick. Instead, you're stuck in your germ infested dorm, getting average care from health services, and moping around campus not quite sure how to fend for yourself.

Aside from your parents not being near, there are also all your friends that you start missing from home. A lot of the time your friends go to college in-state and will have a few people they know going into their freshman. Typically, when going to school out-of-state more often than not you aren't going to be going to school with friends from high school. This seems scary, but it's really not. It gives you even more of an incentive to make college friends. Missing friends from back home is hard, but once you start making friends at school it'll feel like you've known them for your whole life.

There are so many people going through the same thing when you're at college. Yes, a lot of people already know each other, but a lot of people also don't. There's a huge chance you'll meet someone who is also hours upon hours away from their home. It makes it a lot easier knowing that somebody else is missing their friends and family just as much as you are. There are so many more opportunities around here for me than there ever will be in Pennsylvania. That is something so great about going to school away from your home state. The opportunities differ so much in all places in the world, so you are bound to have more opportunities anywhere you go.