Going off to college is supposed to be the one of the most exciting moments of your life. Everything is new and fresh, and for the first time you are free. Free from curfews, limitations and that good old high school drama... it's supposed to be perfect.

But sometimes it's not.

Sometimes, college doesn't feel like the best years of your life. Sometimes, it’s dark and lonely, and while you may be surrounded by good and decent people, you can’t help but wonder if you're where you should be. Sometimes, that's just it. You're not where you should be.

I transferred from what I thought was my dream school after a year and a half. I am not going to sit here and pretend that I hated every second that I spend at that school, because that is simply not true. I loved it.

But then, I didn’t.

I honestly can't explain what happened, what changed. I don’t even know myself.

I no longer felt the freedom that was once so compelling to me. I felt trapped. And let me tell you, there is no feeling worse than inexplicable isolation. Suddenly, the university's frequently groomed grass didn’t look so green and I found myself drowning in the ocean that engulfed the place I briefly called home. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was in the wrong place, at the wrong time, with people who, while were fun and caring, were also so wrong for me – wrong for what I needed to break through the walls that I built around myself.

So I left.

I left and on my journey back home I found myself. The grass started looking greener and waves of the ocean no longer toppled over my head as I struggled to catch my breath. I found the happiness that I had been missing for so long.

My goal here is not to discredit college life. For the lucky ones, it is perfect and beautiful. I am trying to make a bigger point here.

If nothing else, I have learned this one thing.

If you ever feel as though you do not belong where you are, leave.

If you ever feel shadowed and held back, leave.

If the people in your life aren't helping you to be the best possible version of yourself, for the love of God, leave.

There is no shame is being selfish when it comes to your own happiness. There is no shame in leaving a place that keeps you in the ground.

You deserve to grow. Follow the light that will let you do so.

Never apologize for the way that you feel and the ways that you try to fix your sadness. At no point should you feel guilty for your attempt to make things right for yourself.

If you are not happy where you are, it’s okay to leave.