I grew up in one of those towns that people say they want to leave, but don't. There is nothing wrong with staying home or close to home. I can see why some choose to stay: you know everyone and you would close to family. But there is something about leaving that makes my heart swell with adventure.

After high school, I loved three hours away from anyone that I knew. I was completely alone from anything familiar. That first year was really hard and there were times that I regretted my decision to go so far from my family and friends, but I stuck it out and I am thankful that I did. Because I left home I was granted with so many opportunities that I wouldn't have been possible had I stayed. I have lived in this little college town for almost four years, and I now call this place home too.

Throughout my ongoing four years at college, I have been on many adventures and met people that are going to be in my life forever. In college, I have found out the person I want to be and the person I am. It's a cliche that people find themselves in college, but it's true when you go to a college where no one knows you. I graduate in just seven short months and had to make the choice whether I want to go back to my hometown, stay in my new home, or travel some where new. Again moving to a new place seemed like the best choice.

I want my life to be full of adventures and stories, and I'm not going to get that if I stay in the same place for my whole life. It's easy to feel trapped when you have to do the same things everyday for years on end, and I never want to get to that point. The first time I moved, although it was scary, it was freeing, and I know that this time won't be any easier, but I need to be free again. I want to start over again.

Moving away again is best for me because I have lived in my hometown and I have lived in my college town, so I've had all the adventures I could have there. I have grown as a person as much as I could in these places, but I know that I still more growing to do, and the only way that I can continue to grow is to be somewhere new.

That's what moving to a place that is totally new can do for you. After you graduate college, go somewhere new. Find a job in a town where you don't know anyone. It will be hard at first, but this is the time to find who you really are. If there is something that you don't like about you, this is the time to start over and be the you that you want to be. This is the time to have those adventures that you've always wanted. You will have people that doubt you and tell you that you couldn't make it on your own, but if leaving home is something that you really want to do, don't think about those people because this is the time make choices for you.