Distance is a huge component for people when they’re applying to college. Some people’s parents give them restrictions of how far they’re allowed to go, others don’t feel comfortable being that far from home, and some don’t even think of leaving their home state as an option. Personally, I always knew I wanted to go out of state. Nothing against New Jersey, because believe me I miss it, but I wanted to venture outside of my comfort zone and open myself up to a whole new environment. Being half way through the semester now, I can confidently say that my decision to go to school practically across the country, was a good choice on my part, however, where there are pros, there are always cons.

Some Pros…

You get to discover a new part of yourself.

College is one of the biggest adjustments we make in our lifetime. We are forced to meet new people, adjust to a new place, learn what it’s like to be on your own, along with many other things. All of those things contribute to you discovering a lot about yourself. I have learned many of my own strengths, weaknesses and various traits that I didn’t know I had before leaving home.

You get to experience a whole new world, basically.

I go to school in Colorado which is nothing like my hometown in New Jersey. With that, I am constantly being surprised with what this state has to offer. In the town of Boulder alone, there is so much to do but if you go outside the borders, there is a whole different world awaiting you. Personally, I think this is my favorite part of going away to school because I never get bored because there’s always something new for me to discover.

You get to start fresh

A new place means you can be anyone you want to be. No, I have not totally changed from who I was in high school, but it is nice to start fresh and meet a whole new batch of people. You normally go to high school with people you’ve known since you were young so normally, your friends remain pretty consistent. In college, you normally don’t go to school with your high school friend group, so you learn to branch out and meet people from all over and start with a blank slate.

Some Cons…

You miss your favorite restaurants

No joke, I think I miss home food more than I miss most people. The struggle is real when you can’t wake up every Saturday, go to your favorite bagel place and get a bacon egg and cheese like you did every weekend. You can’t drop everything and get dinner at your favorite Italian restaurant (@Domani) that you used to go to three times a week. People tell you that you’re going to miss your high school friends when you’re at school, but no one ever warns you how much you’re going to miss food from your home town.

You don’t have the luxury of going home

Being that I’m a plane ride away, I only get to go home on breaks like thanksgiving and Christmas. A lot of my friends go to school in state or a car ride away so they get to go home whenever they please. The hardest part about that is they often all go home the same weekend, meet up, go to all the best restaurants in town, and it looks like a really fun time #FOMO. There’s nothing like going home and chilling in your friend’s house while their parents make you a home cooked meal, something I wish I could experience more often.

You don’t get as many visitors

I think this is the saddest part about going to school a plane ride away. All of my friends are college students, and most of them fall under the classification of “broke college students.” That being said, I haven’t had many visitors which is upsetting. Being away from you home friends really teaches you a lot about your friendship and you miss them more than you could ever imagine. All I want it to be back with my best friends and show them my school but that’s not too feasible with their budgets.

Overall, I couldn’t be happier with my choice of where I went to school. Just give me one night in my bed in New Jersey, a dozen bagels from A&J, an order of penne vodka from Domani and have my friends come visit me at school for a weekend and I will be on cloud nine.