As a 20-year old, I signed a lease to move into a one-bedroom apartment. For the first time since starting college, I was going to be living without any roommates. Freshman year, I lived in a dorm and shared a space with a fantastic roommate for two semesters. Sophomore year, I moved into my sorority house and shared a home with 70+ women and I had three roommates (yes, we lived that bunk bed life).

By the time my junior year was rolling around, I decided that I really needed to get away. I loved having roommates and living in a house with a lot of people, but it was constantly forcing me to have to be sociable, even when I was drained mentally. After a long day of classes, I like to eat some food, watch Netflix, and take a nap.

All these were things I couldn't do without someone wanting to be involved or just wanting to hang out. I found myself being put on other's schedules, rather than myself doing what I needed to do. So at 20, I moved into my own apartment and have been living here for a year now.

Here are some of the things that I've learned to appreciate!

1. I've found MY groove

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Since I was surrounded by so many people all of the time, I never had a chance to really know how I needed to de-stress from classes, tests, homework, and life in general. I thought it was going out with my friends, getting dinner, and having a million and one conversations. Turns out, my de-stressor is to watch Netflix on my couch and talk to absolutely no one. At first, it took me some time to accept this, I thought it might be weird or wrong, but now I understand that it's OK to not be sociable every single second of the day!

2. What makes ME happy

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During my time living with other people, I found myself being forced into a lot of different activities that I didn't really enjoy. From shopping trips an hour away to food runs at 1 a.m. I never really felt truly happy when doing these things. Upon moving into my own place, I found out that the things I enjoy most are actually reading books! This was something I couldn't do because of my prior living situations, so now I find myself reading constantly, whenever I have a chance. Reading a book without getting interrupted really does hit different!

3. Relationships are STRONGER

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Since moving into my own place, all of my relationships with my friends have gotten stronger! Due to all of us not living within the same sorority house anymore, it takes more effort to see each other. You have to reach out and really plan to make sure these relationships don't fade away! I've found myself really enjoying our time spent together, no matter what we do, more so than I did in the past because I am able to see just how much I value my friendships. My friends are seriously such amazing people, and moving away from them has really helped me see how much they mean to me!

4. I've branched out to A LOT of things

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While living alone, I've developed a lot of hobbies. Yes, sometimes it can get really boring living by myself. Sometimes you're completely caught up on the latest Netflix shows, you don't want to clean, and you just need to do something new. I've started picking up multiple different hobbies! I can cook a variety of different things now, I picked up drawing, and have become an amazing plant owner. I also have the most adorable cat, Luna, who definitely keeps things interesting!

5. My FOCUS has increased

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The most important thing that has happened for me is that my grades have improved! Because I have my own space, I was able to develop study habits right there in my own home. Before, I could never study in my room since I had roommates and I was constantly getting distracted. Now, upon living alone, I can study for hours listening to music off my Amazon Alexa without feeling tired. I don't even have to change clothes or get out of bed to do my work! And if I am hungry, I can make myself anything I want. Due to this environment, my studies have seriously gotten a lot better!

Living alone is definitely what I needed to become who I am today. I have never experienced so much success and happiness derived from a single space. My home is my sanctuary and I'm so glad that I decided to live alone!