This past summer I gained a new perspective of home.

In the fall of 2015, I entered FSU as a doe-eyed freshman wandering campus, wishing I was back home in Orlando. I missed the atmosphere of a large city, and the comfort of knowing my relatives were a short drive away.

But something changed in me after living in Tallahassee for a year on my own.

After familiarizing campus (basically Stroz and Chik fil A), exploring Tallahassee's hidden beauties, and meeting people that changed my life forever, I could easily say as I was driving back down Tennessee, "I'm home."

I'm home today because I'm surrounded by young innovative people who share the same dream as me. I'm home because my difference is accepted, appreciated, and awarded by my school. I'm also home because this is where I learned the realities of being a young adult (who admittedly still calls mom to ask how health insurance works).

No place can evoke the same warm feeling you get when returning to your hometown. But there is such a place away from your family and childhood friends that nobody can fully understand the significance of but you. For me, Tallahassee is not only where I study. Tallahassee is where I'm free to explore new places in the middle of the night - even though I have a 9 AM lecture in the morning - because why not? Tallahassee has an adventurous energy to it that entices you out of your comfort zone, and it will inevitably change you. The uniqueness of this college town is just something you must see for yourself.

To the freshman entering FSU, or any other big university this fall: embrace being uncomfortable.

And to the next doe-eyed girl coming here all on your own, welcome Home.