College is scary enough when it's your first semester. It's even more scary when you are across the country from home. There's new slang, different jokes, accents and ways of speaking. Not everyone is used to adventuring on their own away from their parents, so doing it for college sometimes seems like something that is off limits.

I live in Roseville, California; I have my whole life. Then when college application time came, I didn't apply anywhere further west than Pennsylvania. Some friends thought it was cool I was going to go so far away, but most of them just thought I was crazy, and I agreed with them. College is a chance at a new start with new people and places, and I figured it would be my one chance to be able to explore places. I responded with this idea by moving 3,000 miles away from home.

I got lucky that my mom supported me as much as she did, taking me to visit the schools I was applying to and being excited for me to move so far away. If she had any fear or sadness about it, she didn't show it. Her friends or our family members would comment that they could never let their children go so far away or that they couldn't believe she was so supportive of me. Her response almost every time was "she's going to go where she wants regardless of what I say, I may as well get her there safe", and she did. I found schools that I loved and towns that I felt comfortable in, and I am now going to University at Albany.

Fast forward to August: move in day for me was three days before almost any other freshman, and my mom and brother came with me to help move in. I didn't realize how far away from home I was until they left for California again. It turns out that a three hour time difference can cause a lot of difficulties in scheduling a phone call or Skype video with people from home. Talking with friends and family from home was something that I needed so badly but could never find the time between homework and friends and sleeping and class, that's something that I plan on changing for my second semester.

Going to new places without the safety net of being able to run home when something goes bad is terrifying and exhilarating, and it was the best decision I ever made. I didn't have that safety net to fall on, so I trusted myself and I took risks and I relied on more people. My roommate and I did everything together, where I went she went and vice versa, we got food with each other and listened to each others' rants. Without her I likely wouldn't have been able to make it through my first semester with less than 10 meltdowns.

Without my parents or my friends from home with me, I had to make new friends and put myself out there. I ate food alone without feeling weird, I learned how to use the public transportation system, I joined a rowing team where we wake up at 4:30am for practice. All of these decisions would likely not have happened had I stayed close enough to home to drive there for the weekend.

Of course I get homesick and I miss my family and pets, and sometimes I wonder why on earth I left California winters at 40 degrees for this New York 15 degrees (and dropping)--but then I walk through the snow with my roommate trying to catch snowflakes on our tongues and I realize that I couldn't have this experience if I had stayed near home. It was scary to see my mom and brother get on the plane heading to California without me, but the risk I took in going away has been worth it.

Don't be afraid to go far away from home. Phones and laptops are ways of contacting friends and family, and you'll be distracted by schoolwork and new friends before you notice its been four months and suddenly you're heading home for the holiday.

There are so many ways to help you through homesickness, friends, roommates, hobbies, sports, so don't limit yourself by staying close to home. I'm heading back to Albany on January 21st; heading back to my home that is 3,000 miles from home.