June 22, 2016 is more than just a date to me. It's the day I packed up my entire life in one suitcase and a small carry-on and moved across the country. I was born and raised in a small suburb of Chicago, Illinois. I absolutely loved it but it just wasn't for me. I despised the cold and I felt like I was always being held back. As soon as I graduated I decided that it was finally time for a change. I packed up my bags and I moved to Vista, California.

It's been a little over a month since I moved and I've never been so happy. I knew as soon as I landed in San Diego that I was home. I made a promise to myself that I wouldn't hold back anymore I wasn't going to be a shy quiet girl that was too afraid of having fun anymore.

To be honest, I've never been this happy before. I've met some of the greatest people and have made amazing memories that always replay in my mind like a movie.

Before I moved my friends kept telling me "don't let Cali change you" and "stay true to who you are" but moving here did change me. It opened me up to a whole new world and a whole new me.

I went from never leaving my room to staying out till 2, 3 o'clock in the morning. I finally stopped caring what people thought about me and just started being me.

Now my friends keep telling me how much I've changed, how they don't like the person I've become, but what they don't understand is that this is the person I've been trying to be since freshman year of high school.

Believe me when I say I've made some terrible choices and mistakes that I wish I could redo but moving to California, isn't one of them.

I wouldn't trade moving to California, meeting new friends, and making these amazing memories for anything in this world.