Being from the Antelope Valley used to be an embarrassing thing to admit. It's so large yet so small and I hated living here. After high school graduation, I was so ready to take off to the University of Oregon. But I didn’t. Unfortunately, money was an issue and my parents made it clear they were happy for me, but there was no way I could go. So, I stayed home and I went to our local community college.

I was livid the entire summer, I was even late for registration because I was in complete denial. How was I about to stay home when all of my best friends had gone away leaving me all by my lonesome? It was the hardest thing I had ever done. Going to Antelope Valley College (AVC) alone was terrible; I felt like I was at the reject school. The worst part was feeling like my best friends were outgrowing me. They were changing and evolving into the adults we were supposed to be and there I was, just stagnant.

Then something amazing happened, I met my soulmate. I have never met someone who was so in tune to me yet so unlike me. I met my best friend, Michelle. Michelle and I had actually met in high school through student government but we never talked as more than acquaintances. We became friends in college. We saw each other in our honors political science class and naturally, we clung to each other being the only familiar face we saw. As the weeks passed on we only grew closer. She completed me in a way that I didn’t even know I was lacking in. Michelle is the yin to my yang; the best blessing. It is because of her that I decided to believe everything happens for a reason, (which is saying a lot because I always believe in things “happening for a reason”), God always had a plan for me and this was it. Had I actually gone away to Oregon, I would have never met her and I cannot even picture life without her in it anymore. Befriending her my first year was one of the best decisions I have ever made. Life got infinitely brighter and it was all thanks to her. Suddenly, I had the sister I always wanted. Someone who didn't beat around the bush, and knew me better than I knew myself.

The following semester, I met the two best guys I’ll ever come to know; Carlos and Nathan. Carlos is the tough love, give-it-to-you-straight friend, and Nathan is the best listener, sometimes “Dad," but definitely the rational thinker. Eventually, the four of us became a group. The most unlikely to make a friendship, and yet, there we were. We made the best combination ever known to man. I had Michelle to always have my back, and Carlos and Nathan to be dumb together. My life has been nothing but tears from the laughter ever since. They have gifted me with the best years of my life, and I know it will only continue.

I registered late my first semester at AVC and because of this, I had an awkward combination of classes since I had to pick from the classes that were not already completely full. I was a declared English major when I started college, but due to the full classes, I could not take any English classes that semester. However, I decided to use this to my advantage and take not one, but two art history classes. I had always wanted to take the class in high school but I never got placed in it. I knew I loved art, but there was something still calling me toward art history, and I am grateful I listened.

At AVC, I found a mentor. She saw me in her 101 class and then the next day in her 102 class. She warned me that her class was no easy feat, much less two in the same semester. I told her I was confident I could do it. By the end of the semester, I wanted more. More of her pushing, and more of her lectures that left me curious and hungry for more. I would go home and talk for hours about what I had learned that day. It was then, that I realized art history was where my passion resided and it was where I intended to stay.

Staying home had already proved itself so beneficial and it only kept going. The same semester I met Carlos and Nathan, I met the first guy I’d ever been seriously interested in, (there had been a few before, but it was nothing like this). To this day, I can’t really tell you what it was, but I was instantly head over heels. He walked in to my English class and I said to myself, (because saying it out loud would have been totes creepy), “Alright game time; turn on the charm," and I did just that.

I had never been so determined to get someone to fall for me. I just felt it, he understood me better than any other guy had before. We connected instantly and we shared these looks… They were the best thing. So much can be exchanged through the eyes, and I never understood how much, until we met. It took me four weeks and I was a goner. Four weeks and I started sharing how I felt about him to the people closest to me. Growing up you always hear about someone getting butterflies but it had never happened to me, until I found him. He gave me butterflies. Most times, all it took was the thought of him.

Down the line, we got together and I can only describe it as cloud nine. He was the first guy I ever brought home. I think that's how I knew I was falling for him. He was not only perfect for me, but to me. He exceeded all expectations and passed everything on my “List," (ladies, we all know the “List”). I was radiating and everyone noticed. I am naturally a happy person, so for someone to add to this happiness, to the point of it being noticeable, was incredible.

Staying home turned out to be the best thing for me. For all of these blessings, I have to say thank you. Thank you to my parents. I am so thankful now; I have to be. Thank you for keeping me home, and allowing me to grow into a better person with great experiences and life lessons to keep me going. I was introduced to friends who would eventually “burrow” their way into my life to the point of no return, and to my first love. This city, as much as I hate it sometimes, has given me some of life’s greatest gifts. Lastly, I also need to thank God, because He always had a plan, and now it feels like, it is only just beginning.