Going out of state for college had been my plan for as long as I can remember. I wanted to leave my beautiful home state of North Carolina and go somewhere far away to experience new things. For the longest time, that place was my family school 14 hours away. When it finally came time to decide, however, I chose a school that I had zero ties to, but was only nine hours away. I wanted to be different and have a new experience, not almost the same one that my parents had. There were five students from my high school that decided to attend the University of Alabama. Besides those five students, I knew no one in the student body of over 39,000. Some might have been nervous going starting a new four years not knowing pretty much anyone. I could not wait for the opportunities that were in front of me. While there are some great things about going to college knowing a large amount of students, here are some of the best reasons about knowing barely anyone.
1. You get to start over.
Everything that happened in high school becomes practically irrelevant. It doesn't matter what your social life was like or what sports you played. No one in college cares about any of that. They care about what you do and who you are when you're around them
2. You get more involved.
When you are put into a situation where you don't know anyone, you quickly find ways to meet people. Not knowing anyone is a huge incentive to get involved on a college campus. There is something great for everyone, whether it is greek life, intramurals, honor societies or clubs.
3. You are more open to meeting other people.
It is natural to feel much more comfortable when you know the people around you. When you don't, you are much more open to finding friends in every day situations. College is all about a creating a new lifestyle and that includes new acquaintances.
4. You find people you truly connect with.
Sure, there are times you are forced into becoming friendly to someone because if you don't, it gets awkward for everyone involved (*cough* orientation *cough*). When you start to find your people, though, you find those that you really connect with and the ones that will truly be your best friends forever.
5. You can be yourself.
No one is judging you. No one knows what you did that one Friday night four months ago. They know who you are being in the moments you are with them and they choose to be around you for that. High school is a hard place to be yourself because everyone knows pretty much everyone else's business. When that doesn't follow you into college, you can be whoever you want to be.
6. But most importantly...
