You know that feeling when your throat closes up and tears are starting to form, but you are trying your hardest to keep them in? Well this pretty much sums up how I felt my freshman year hugging my family goodbye in front of my dorm. I couldn’t speak really, one because I probably would have lost it, but two, shouting goodbye one last time wasn’t going to help me feel better.
This was my new home, Saratoga Springs. To be honest I hadn’t heard of it until I started looking at schools. When I mentioned to friends where I was going, nobody knew what in the world Skidmore College was, let alone where it was located. In the moment I was skeptical of leaving home and leaving the west coast to attend a school nearly 3,000 miles away. I mean, it isn’t necessarily a quick hop home. I think the hardest part was that the town, the architecture, the landscape, everything was drastically different. Instead of palm trees and high-rises it was brick buildings, creaky floors, and red oak trees.
While I felt very misplaced the first year, I became so submerged in classes, ballet, and hanging out with friends that I began to forget about the distance and where I was, and focus more on how I was growing and learning. Each year began to feel more comfortable as the distance from home started to become less of a daunting fact. I learned to appreciate the differences. Delicate snowflakes falling from the sky were unbelievably beautiful to me. Living in Los Angeles all my life has made me excited just to see rain, let alone snow. I felt like I was in a whole new world, lightyears away from home. I got to experience the winter of upstate New York, but then come home to sunny Los Angeles.
Saratoga Springs has its own culture and way of life that was entirely new to me. At first I didn’t truly appreciate being able to experience such a different atmosphere. I needed to allow myself to settle into my new home and explore what Skidmore and Saratoga had to offer. Some people ask me if I could do it all over again, would I still chose Skidmore? A year ago, I don’t know what my answer would have been, but I know now that the friends I have made, the English classes I have been able to take, and the amazing town I now call home have made it all worth it. I had more strength and courage inside me than I thought. Sometimes all you need to do is take the jump, even if you don’t know the outcome. Leaving California for college has made me realize how amazing it is to be able to place yourself into a new setting and embrace all it has to offer.
