I previously wrote an article titled, "Why I Went Far Away From Home For College." While I still am beyond happy with my decision to venture away from home to the perfect college for me and would recommend to anyone thinking about moving far away for school to one hundred percent do it, there are downfalls that no one really likes to talk about.
It gets hard not being able to drive home on a weeknight for a meal with your parents and siblings. I go to a school where a lot of people are from the surrounding area. A lot of people I know can easily drive home on a Wednesday night to sit at their kitchen table and lay in their bed. I don't ever get to do that. It does get hard. You do miss eating with your family.
You will get homesick. Homesickness is a taboo topic for most college kids– no one really wants to admit at the age of 18 to 22 how much you miss your mom and dad while you're trying to prove you can be an adult. But being so far away from home makes it easy to get homesick and I learned it's okay to be homesick. Call home, take a deep breath, hang out with your friends (aka your family away from home) and everything will be okay. I promise.
If you have any younger siblings they will start stealing the things you leave at home. All of sudden you see a picture on social media and they are wearing your shirt. You finally go home for break and their closet is filled with your stuff. Also, they will tell you more than once that they have either moved into your bedroom or they changed the use of your bedroom. It's life, but hopefully you get those clothes back one day.
Meeting people that come from your state or a state near you is the most exciting thing. The person might live four hours away from you, but you for some reason feel this special connection to them simply because they live sort of near you. On the flip side, being asked why you went so far away for college or trying to explain to someone where you are from will become the most annoying and repetitive conversation.
But the reality of living so far away from home aside, putting yourself outside of your comfort zone and experiencing a whole new life in college really is the most amazing thing. Living far away from home is one hundred percent worth the ups and downs.
