I want to start off by saying you aren’t alone. Everyone has this feeling at some point in life, whether you’re out of town, off to school, or moved away from your first town. Anyone, of any age, can be a victim of homesickness; so don’t feel ashamed about the way you’re feeling.

So, let me guess; everything is starting to feel just a little bit off. You’re lonely, you’re bored, and school is not as easy as everyone said it would be, right? You’re laying in your dorm room twin sized bed watching snap chats of your friends from home; they’re all together partying like there isn’t a worry in the world and you suddenly start wondering if you made the right decision to leave. You’re getting the thought that maybe you could have done big things back home and this whole college thing just isn’t for you. Well I’m here to tell you there is a reason you left, and there’s a reason you’re going to stay.

In a couple of months, you’re going to start realizing that the people you’re surrounded with now are genuinely interested in your well being. People that think everything in life is a competition no longer surround you. Your friends now aren’t trying to beat you at every aspect of life and when you accomplish something in life they are actually proud of you. Weird, right? I thought so too.. You’re going to notice that opportunities start appearing and soon your life is actually going to start coming together, and before you know it this town, this strange place, is going to be the place you call home and are never going to want to leave.

You’re going to start seeing that the things you’re doing in college are so far past the things you could do back in your hometown and that’s why you left in the first place.

It always starts about two months into your freshman year. I know because I did it, too. There was a time during my freshman year where I was just over it. Nothing was working, everyone sucked, life sucked, roommates sucked, and I was convinced that moving home was the answer to it all. Little did I know, that could have been the absolute worst thing I could have done at that time.

It’s funny because the friends I had at home who were persuading me that moving home was the right thing to do are the same people drinking beer every night, going to sleep at 9 p.m. and waking up at 7 a.m. to go to their minimum wage paying job five days a week. Of course, they wanted me to fall to that level, because they don’t know what else the world has to offer. They don’t know any better.

On the other hand, the friends I made here (friends I had only known for two short months) were the friends encouraging me to stay. They were reminding me how much I was worth, how much I could do and offer for this school. They are the friends that I have made every memory with for the past three years and continue making memories with. These are the people who will push me for the rest of my life to be the absolute best version of myself I could ever be. These people are the reason why I stayed. They believed in me, and taught me to believe in myself. Find these people. I guarantee you will see a different side of yourself you never even knew existed.

I challenge you to talk to the person next to you in class. This might be the best friend you’ve been looking for your entire life (shout out to you Savannah Murphy, #NeverForget College Algebra).

I challenge you to get involved. That career fair your heard that boy announcing about in class? Go. What do you have to lose? The Greek life party everyone is raving about? Go. You never know, this might be where your future begins.

Two months ago, a random girl came in my class with a half sheet of yellow paper that was a flyer about a mission trip going to Cambodia, and the next thing I know I’m accepted into the program and will be traveling across the world in six short months to, hopefully, have some kind of impact on the beautiful children on Cambodia.

I challenge you to accept this change. Make the absolute best of the next four years because they fly by. In three years when Christmas break comes around you’re not going to be eager to go home, instead you’re going to be dreading it because you won't want to leave your friends, your home.

This could be you. Don’t let the fear of failure slow you down. You have a purpose, and you have a reason. Let life take control, and you enjoy the ride.