As a high school senior, I, like many other people in my position, was torn in my decision of where to go to college. There were certainly pros and cons to each option, but my need for adventure and something new ultimately made the decision for me. I chose a school in Philadelphia, a city completely unfamiliar to a girl from a small town in New Hampshire. I needed, I craved, something entirely new and exciting.

Going to school in Philadelphia certainly presented its fair share of challenges. That ‘school is so hard, I want to go home’ homesickness was only multiplied when I didn’t even have the option to see my parents for an afternoon or night. Visits were planned weeks or months in advance, as travel arrangements had to be made, and days had to be taken off from work. It was also difficult because visits from friends from high school were near to impossible, unless they also happened to go to school close to me.

Yes, I’ve certainly experienced challenges here and there, but the positive aspects of my experience absolutely outweigh anything that could have been potentially negative. I’ve learned lessons during the past three years at my school that will hold true and valuable for years to come.

I learned the importance of ‘You Only Live Once.’ Sure, this saying can be applied to many different things – but I’ve chosen to look at it differently. In high school, I was hesitant to take risks. I didn’t like being unsure of the outcome or the circumstances. Since I’ve been in college, I have learned the importance of risk taking and the ways that it promotes healthy growth and self-improvement. During the past three years, I made lifelong friends hundreds of miles from home; joined a sorority; spent a summer in New York City; and studied abroad in Madrid, Spain. While those are only a snapshot of all I’ve done, I can honestly admit that each one was out of my comfort zone and each one was the right decision.

I also learned to be confident and independent. I stopped questioning every decision I made, and started believing in myself. After doing this two or three times, I realized that I had discovered a side of myself that I absolutely loved. A more specific indication of this was my ability to teach myself how to travel. I had to travel alone for every school break. Since I didn’t have a car on campus, I was forced to find alternate transportation to the airport. I went from taking a cab everywhere, to learning exactly how to navigate and rely on the train for cheaper, faster service. While this seems rather simple, I realized that I was capable of making some of the scariest ‘adventures’ into activities that I did not have to think twice about. Even the smallest lessons serve great purpose eventually.

While there were, and still occasionally are, some days that were a lot harder than others, the lessons and experiences I’ve gained as a college student are invaluable. In college, I was able to become the best version of myself. I learned how to live my life to the fullest, and through this process became both incredibly independent and confident in the person that I am.