I may not be new to this, but going to school a good 16 hours from home is still a huge adjustment. It's what I always planned on doing, yet it didn't go as smoothly as I had hoped. There are lots of ups and downs, but I feel myself growing and maturing every day. Attending college far away is certainly something.

It's realizing that mom isn't there when you come home after a bad day, but if you need her, you can call. You just have to be mature enough to acknowledge you still want her help and advice.

It's a night drive at 2 am listening to J Cole because you can't sleep.

It's crazy dance parties and karaoke nights to relieve stress.

It's struggling with paying for school at a higher expense due to nonresident status.

It's watching the sunset from a mountaintop as you complain with friends about ex-boyfriends(or girlfriends) and think about the meaning of life.

It's doing your best to get to know and love new roommates, and letting them go from strangers that you don't trust, to being your closest friends and confidantes.

It's a fresh start in a new place where you don't have to have the past and a reputation, and where you're not likely to run into people you used to know.

It's slacking on homework until you realize that you need to pass and then sleepless nights trying to catch up.

It's balancing a budget to stretch over the bare necessities, and learning how to quit spending money on things you don't need.

It's saying no when you don't have time for social outings, but only once you figure out that you just can't do it all.

It's a new dating pool with new getaway places and different opportunities.

It's a time where accountability comes into play and actions have consequences more than ever before.

It's discovering what matters most to you and developing new interests.

It's sitting down with a stranger and having one of the deepest conversations of your life.

It's learning how to maintain relationships from a distance, or when to let them go.

It's finding yourself, and developing a sense of home wherever you may be.

I know that a lot of these apply even to people attending school close to home, but I don't think I would appreciate things as much as I do if I wasn't so far away. It has been a long journey, but it has totally been worth it.