It's that time of year where incoming college freshmen are cramming their "dorm haul" into a dorm room that they'll be sharing with a total stranger for the academic year.
Yesterday, I was fortunate enough to move in to my college of choice. And from what I've experienced so far, I can tell that I am going to love it here. I think that I always knew that this school was going to become my second home, so leading up to move-in I did my best to hide my nerves and mask my feelings around my parents. I only showed them my tremendous amount of excitement and refused to let them see the tiny bit of fear I had that I might be wrong. My excitement was always greater than my fear, so I didn't think it was a big deal to cover up my nervousness as much as I could.
Well, the day finally came and all of my "college essentials" were loaded into the car and my family made our way to my college. When I went to check in, I asked if one of them could go with me. But because of my past with anxiety they thought I didn't want to socialize or talk with new people, so I was alone for 90 percent of my wait for checking in/getting my move in pass. I didn't tell them the real reason I wanted one of them with me was because I knew it was only a matter of hours before we'd be saying goodbye for the next few months. I didn't know if I was ready for that. Maybe I should have told them.
When we got to the dorm and started setting up my side of the room I kept pausing to take "selfies" and all sorts of pictures with my siblings. I think they thought I was doing it just because my siblings wanted me to, but I honestly knew that I was going to miss my siblings more than I ever thought I would. I never told them that but I probably should have.
My roommate showed up not too long after I finished unpacking my first suitcase of clothes. I was excited to meet her and happy to know she was nice. I wanted to get to know her more and still had some setting up to do. My siblings were getting antsy, so I told them that they could leave.
I think my parents felt rushed, but the fact of the matter is that I knew if our goodbye was dragged out much longer I'd get really emotional. I didn't want anyone from my residence hall seeing me getting emotional on the first day. I wish I had explained this to my parents. But I guess they'll know now that they've read this article.
There are a lot of things that I wish that I said to my parents on move in day. I wish I explained how much I would miss them and I wish that I had let them help out more with setting up my dorm. But I am happy that I got the chance to say that I love them and that I know I will be happy here. I will miss them, but I am already making friends and taking advantage of new amazing opportunities at college. Technology makes it easy to communicate anyway. They are always one text or call away and I hope that they know they are always welcome to text or call me (But, Dad, seriously please tell me if you're coming to visit. I know that you want to surprise me, but that could get real annoying real quick.)
