I have less than a week left before I leave my home sweet Canadian home for college in the States. Although I've been looking forward to moving out and changing the people I've surrounded myself with since almost the beginning of high school, there's so much I know I'll miss even though I haven't left yet.

One thing I'll miss is suburbia. Now don't get me wrong, most of the time I hate suburbia -- how everything is so far away, terrible for the environment, and how I can't get to a McDonald's from my house by walking. I hate the "American" dream of low density, wasteful living in unnecessarily large detached homes. But still, I love the lazy fog of suburban summers that slows everything in my life down to a crawl and the empty streets that make long-boarding a breeze. I'm already starting to feel school stress creeping back with the constant bombardment of emails reminding me that I'm going back to an environment of studying and being surrounded by people 24/7.

I'll also miss Canadian winters. The weather at Princeton probably won't be too different from the weather here, but something about the disproportionate excitement for skiing and skating and a weird nationalistic pride in wintertime just screams Canada! And even though I have no actual interest in the sport, I'll miss the huge enthusiasm for hockey, as well. Nothing brings people together better than bonding over how painfully cold it gets in the winter in Canada.

But what I'll miss most of all is my cat. Unlike my friends and family whom I can text and video call, my cat doesn't know how to use a computer, so leaving for college means seeing a lot less of my favourite thing in the world. Besides just sitting there and looking cute, my cat wakes me up better than my alarm clock in the mornings, snuggles up close when I'm starting to fall sick, and always welcomes me back every time I come home. Leaving my precious furball behind is like ripping a part of my very sad, cat-loving soul out.

But of course, I'll find new things to miss when I actually move out next Wednesday. Maybe things like bagged milk, ketchup chips, and really good poutine. But I'm sure campus living in lieu of suburbia, rainy New Jersey over Canadian winters, and a new cat-shaped pillow from IKEA will carve their own places into my college-bound heart.