I loaded up my Honda Pilot at the beginning of August this year and waved to my best friends as I pulled out of the driveway. Yes, I was crying. Not a sweet, gentle cry, but one of those ugly, snotty, gross cries that makes everyone feel uncomfortable. I felt such a flood of emotions. I was so excited to move halfway across the country, but I was also terrified. I knew a total of three people and had only met each of them once. I was so scared to leave behind the people I had spent 18 years of my life growing up with. Just the thought of being away from the people who had always been right down the street made me nervous, but I was excited. I was excited to have the opportunity to meet new people, make new memories, and learn new things. Leaving for a college that was so far away was the weirdest mix of fear and excitement. I had no clue about what I was getting myself into…

In my first two weeks of college I short circuited our dorm room, started an electrical fire, walked around the President’s picnic with my dress tucked into my underwear, knocked the power out of our dorm, broke the ice machine in the dining hall, fell off a curb into the street, went through rush with a staph infection all over my body, developed a 102-degree fever, and made a C on every test that I took. I experienced all of these things while being over 600 miles away from home. I seriously did not think that my life could be any more of a mess. I saw my friends who went to state school having the time of their lives, as they were constantly surrounded by people we had known forever. While they were having fun, I was sitting in my dorm room crying because rush was hard and my staph infection was painful and I didn’t even have enough friends to fill up my futon.

Although these experiences could’ve happened no matter where I went to school, I underestimated how challenging it could be to live on my own in a completely new place. I thought I was a rock star who could handle absolutely anything and that going so far away would be a complete breeze. News flash: Sometimes, we are way more sensitive than we once thought. God works in mysterious ways, because as I was so broken down those first two weeks of school, I know that I experienced more self-growth than I ever had before.

I have come to learn that college really does include some of the best and worst times of your life. By taking the leap of going to a university in a different state, I have learned an infinite amount about who I am as a person and I have had experiences that I never thought I would have. Going out of state for college is scary, but I promise you that it is one of the most amazing things you could ever do. There aren’t many times in life where you can move away and completely start over. You will meet so many people from so many different places, who will all challenge you to think differently and be better. You will have the opportunity to thrive in a place that is all your own and still know that you will get to go back home and be surrounded by the ones who love you there, too. Yes, there will be hard and embarrassing moments, but those challenges pose unique opportunities for you to learn how to be independent. When you are living far away from home, you are forced to learn how to handle any situation that is thrown your way. It really sucks sometimes, but it ultimately will help you develop into the best version of yourself that you can be.

Moral of the story: Take a chance and go out of state for college. Embrace the challenges of freshman year in a completely new place because things won’t be hard forever and you will learn a crazy amount about yourself and the world around you. I can promise you that.