In my hometown, most of the students choosing to pursue secondary education have very narrow choices. The majority choose either Auburn University or The University of Alabama, with the few that stray going to private colleges, ivy leagues, community college, or like me, a middle sized university; The University of Alabama in Birmingham. I made a last minute switch against Auburn in April, with nothing against Auburn (I love it there) but it is the fact that it is not central to anything, it is in the middle of nowhere, that made me ultimately decide against it. My dream was to go to George Washington University or New York University, but with the tuition and housing being upward of $65,000 a year, it just was not possible without taking out massive student loans. I have always been in love with the city, no matter what sized city. So, I thought, why not start out with a more affordable middle to small sized city, Birmingham.

The University of Alabama in Birmingham’s move in is not until late August. The anticipation and excitement of watching all my friends move in before me is just making me more excited to start school. A couple of days ago, I helped move in a friend of mine to Tuscaloosa at the University of Alabama, and the overwhelming emotions of independence that ensued over the next day were surreal. We finished decorating her room at around 9:30 p.m. and we realized we were hungry (no one is there to remind you to eat). Since neither one of us knew where to eat and she did not have food to cook yet, we scrolled through yelp on our phones for fifteen minutes and decided on Mellow Mushroom. Once we finished our meal and were paying we both realized that neither one of us can afford to eat at Mellow Mushroom anymore. She said to me, “Oh my god, for the rest of our lives until we get a job we are going to be kind of broke, we can’t splurge like this anymore.” In that moment, and for the next couple of hours, I was having a not new, but certainly more impactful realization, that my whole life I have been extremely fortunate. My parents always gave me everything that they wish they had gotten when they were growing up. I realized that the lifestyle change that I am going to be making is the biggest one in my life so far.

Fast-forward a couple days later, to today, I finished buying all the decorations and essentials for my dorm. I still have the same level of excitement of a week ago, but now with more appreciation of my later move in date than my friends who are already at school. I have a little bit more time of living with my mom’s cooking, going out to dinner with her, and sleeping in a room by myself.