One of the most difficult aspects of college that I have had to deal with thus far has been being so far away from so many of my closest friends.

I spent twelve years at a small, tight-knit school where everyone knew you, your mother and your father. The friends that I made are the people that I still consider to be my best friends and are the people that I consider to be my lifelong connections.

These are not only the people that I grew up with but also the ones that I did everything with. We worked on homecoming floats together, went to each other's birthday parties in lower school, and went to each other's houses to swim during the summertime. This is the first time that we all have been away from each other for twelve years.

Twelve years.

That is a long time to be together so when you are apart, it feels like an eternity.

I do my best to keep up with my best friends at College of Charleston and Clemson and am very fortunate to have some of my other best friends here in South Carolina. In thinking about this, I have also noticed a bright side or two. Firstly, it makes getting together when we are all home that much better. Secondly, it has made me value these connections that I have here at Carolina that much more.

Another aspect of college that has made it difficult for me to adjust to is the lack of personal relationships between myself and my professors. At my high school, I maintained a personal connection with every single teacher I had in some way or another.

Yes, I realize that it is my job to reach out to these professors (which I have started to do) but, it is just a different world for me because the teachers and administration I had in high school had such an impact on my life. These teachers were the people that I leaned on for advice through school and sometimes, life.

My eighth-grade science teacher, journalism teacher, philosophy teacher, British literature teacher are just a few of the great educators that had an impact on me at my school.

I may be making it sound like college is a terrible experience and one should never leave high school, whether it be public or private. This is not the case.

One positive thing I can say about leaving my high school is that I am more than prepared for the workload that college brings, and it is a lot. I had seven classes through my senior year in school. Quite frankly, five classes right now is a little bit of a breeze compared to all of the coursework that I had to juggle in high school.

I know how to study in college thanks to the study skills that I learned in my school. I already know what it feels like to pull an all-nighter thanks to my school. I know how to overachieve thanks to my school. It is good to know that my school prepared me so well to be a successful student here at Carolina.

In addition to academics, my school also shaped me into a well-rounded individual. I was involved in many clubs and organizations in high school and this filtered into college. I know how to talk to adults in a professional manner because of high school, for example. High school taught me not only how to write a rhetorical analysis, but also how to utilize important life skills.

My message to those people that read this article and are still in high school, maybe even at that school back in Sumter that everyone knows I am referring to, is to enjoy your high school experience while you still have it.

If your experience was anything like mine, you will surely miss it when it is gone. The football games, the pep-rallies and the semi-formals. It is all soon to end and then you are dropped into this big pot of craziness called college.

Again, do not get me wrong about college being fun or even, the best time of your life.

All I am saying is to relax and enjoy high school while you still can. It is perfectly okay to not be an adult quite yet.