College, in general, is one of the most awesome times in your life. Making the college decision during your Senior year, however, is hard and most definitely not one of the most awesome time in your life.
Going out of state for school is one of the hardest, but most rewarding decisions you’ll ever make. It truly is a blessing to be financially stable enough to be able to leave your home state for a school that you truly love, and I am so thankful to be able to attend the University of Mississippi, despite being from Illinois.
The first reason that it is so amazing to leave your home state for college, is that you are able to make new friends that you would never have met otherwise.
Most of my friends that I’ve made here are either from Mississippi, Tennessee, or other southern states. Illinois is so midwestern that I would’ve had a very small chance of meeting people from different regions, had I stayed in-state, or even in the midwest.
Meeting people from these new regions has introduced me to new traditions and ways of life that I had never known before. Yeah, I might’ve been called a Yank a few times, but I love learning about all of the culture down here that is not a thing back at home.
The food in the South is obviously way different than the food in Illinois, but I am experiencing so many new things down here! The tradition of dressing up for football games will never not baffle me. It is a blast to do, but I am just so used to throwing on jeans and a tshirt for a BIG10 football game at home.
Another reason you should get away for college, is that you will become more independent. If I had stayed in state, I’d be coming home every weekend for sure. But now that I’m 8 hours away?
Going home for a few days isn’t exactly a comfortable trip. I’ve grown to be so much more independent in the past month that I’ve been at school, than I ever was during my whole life. Not to mention all of the tasks I now have to do for myself!
Ole Miss freshman Sean Tiffany says he went out of state for college because, “he hated everyone in Maryland”. Sean brings up a good point, many freshmen choose to go out of state for college to get away from people they’ve gone to school with for their whole lives. It is a new experience, and a great way to make new friends. A lot of people look at college as a “fresh start”.
Whatever college decision you make, you will end up where you need to be. For some people that is out of state, and for some that is in state. I can already tell that a few of the friends I will have for the rest of my life, are the people that I have met/will meet in college. If you are able to, I strongly encourage everyone to get out of their comfort zone and go to college in a different region/state.