There are days when I miss home and my friends more than I probably should. It takes a lot to keep myself from packing up and returning to the town I singlehandedly ran away from the moment I graduated high school. But when life gets hard up here in the big city, all I have to do is sit and think for a minute about why I moved here in the first place.

1. Opportunities lie at every corner.

It's inevitable. When you are in college, you have to make the decisions and connections that last a lifetime. It's up to me to take advantage of every opportunity that comes a knockin'!

2. My goals and ambitions stretch farther than the city limits of home.

Let's face it - if you're not an aspiring teacher, farmer or next generation to take over the family business, you have to look elsewhere to find the career of your dreams, and that's exactly what I did.

3. It's important to give yourself a fresh start in life.

Anyone from a small town will tell you that the drama will eat you alive if you let it. Sometimes people find out about the things you did, before you even did them! That takes talent...

4. Just because.

Everyone says you should travel while you're young and experience the world as much as you possibly can before it's too late. Living up here is an adventure in itself, and I wake up every day wondering what's going to happen next.

So the next time you think about asking someone you know why they moved hundreds of miles away from home just to go to school, think about what you would do if you were given the chance to start an entirely new life. Would you change anything?

I changed everything.