Moving away to college was a big decision for me. I, myself, have never been away form my home for longer than a week or two, and even when I was, I was always still with family. The first couple weeks of being on my own were hard and took some time for me to adjust. But by moving away to college, I ended up getting a lot out of the experience.

Moving out away from your parents means a lot more responsibility. They will not always be there to wake you up in the morning if you are at school, and will not be there to make you soup when you are feeling sick. Living away from your parents means you need to toughen up. It becomes your responsibility to decide when you are too sick and need to go to the doctor. It becomes your decision whether you should go out with friend to Chipotle instead of eating Ramen in your dorm. By doing all these things you become a different person. Sure, you still have the same friends, tell the same jokes, and even wear the same clothes. But the first time you go back to visit your parents over winter break, it feels different. You start doing things that you would normally ask your parents to do.

Despite living on my own, away from my parents and being independent, I have realized one big thing about my first year away from college. That thing is that I would not have survived my first year on my own without my parents support. They were always there supporting me with everything I did. Whenever I would be overwhelmed, I would realize that my parents believed in me no matter what. Whenever I was tight on cash, my parents were still there for me. I still called them to ask how long to put a baked potato in the microwave and still brought my car home so my dad could take it to get the oil changed.

Being in college, people sometimes think they have to do it all on their own. The first couple weeks of the school year, I tried to make sure my parents knew I had my whole life together. Now, at the end of my first year I look back and realize that it's always OK to ask for help and my parents will never judge me for needing help. So this is a thank you to my parents, who helped me survive living on my own.