With it being only three weeks till move in day, I sat thinking about how different my life is going to be. From waking up to my dogs crying and my dad vacuuming at 8 am to waking up in a foreign dorm room with someone you've only known for a couple months. From going to see your best friend everyday, because she only lives ten minutes away but now it's four hours. The stress and excitement of leaving home is finally settling in.

It's weird to think that in four weeks, I won't have the life I'm living right now. I won't have my parents in the next room beside or my best friend parked in my driveway. But one must break out their wings at some point and face the facts. Even though they will not be there with me in person, I know they will always be there for me if needed. It is a sad feeling knowing I will not have everyone I've been surrounded by my whole life, not there with me anymore. As sad as it sounds, I can't be with them forever. As much as I want to stay in my comfort zone, I must escape it. There are many opportunities for me that I must explore.

As I start my new journey in life, I fear the idea of "starting over".

I will have to start over in with friendships, relationships, and overall ways of living. Starting over on my own is a totally different ballpark, but I'll be up to bat soon and hopefully will hit a home run. Making new friends and establishing myself in a new town can be easy and hard at the same time. Many look at college as a time to be someone different than who you were in your old town, but many can't change who've they been for so many years. Just be you. Be the person you would look up to. Don't follow the crowd.

Life will be totally different in three weeks but a part of me is also excited to see where the wind takes me. The people I will meet and the activities I will encounter, excite me. Life will be different and I will miss the people I love most, but it's time to take life by the horns and start my new journey. The journey that will define me in the next couple of years.