College. “A whole new world., a new fantastic point of view.” A clean slate. You are headed into a place where hardly anyone knows your name, or anything that follows. This is scary, and exciting. We are about to leave behind everything we have ever known, to finally give ourselves the opportunity to become the person we have always wanted to be. But how do we overcome the fear of leaving everything behind so we can truly enjoy our whole new world?

Everyone has that childhood best friend. The one who was there for you during the times that no one else was. She was your “right hand man.” The one you told everything to when you were too embarrassed to tell your mom. The one who would tell you the cold hard truth when you needed to hear it. She was the one who would answer the phone at 2 in the morning and talk to you for hours because you were still struggling with your first heartbreak, and even though she didn't know what that was like yet she was going to hold your hand through it every step of the way. You fought like sisters over silly things, and made up two seconds later after realizing just how pathetic the whole thing was. She was your person. But now you are headed two separate directions. You are majoring in two completely different things, and you are unclear what the future will look like between you two. There is no predicting what will happen, and how time can drift or bring people even closer then before. But what I will tell you is in your whole new world, you still get a say in who you want in it. It is not a complete new world. You don't need to leave everyone out of it. If she is your person she will always be your person. Your friendship has too much history for everything to completely end just because you are both heading in different directions. Keep in contact; FaceTime, snapchat, call, text. Just because you are in two different locations does not mean they do not still want to hear from you. It is important to allow yourself the opportunity to meet so many amazing people in this whole new world of yours, but do not ever forget the ones who helped you become the person you are today.

If you are like me you have only ever lived in one house. For the longest time this was appalling to me. I complained daily to my friends and my parents about how badly I wanted a change of scenery and to move on from everything that I have ever known. However, recently as I soak in the last couple days here in the house that built me I find myself sad, wondering what it is going to be like living in an unfamiliar area with unfamiliar faces everywhere. Leaving behind a place where so many of your childhood memories were created is scary. This is where you walked for the first time, road a bike for the first time, learned to read, met amazing friends, had your first kiss on the front porch, grew up with your siblings, etc. You became so much of who you are today because of this place you spent growing up in for so long. You now have to adapt to how different things will be. There will be no more singing at the top of your lungs when the house is empty, or scurrying off to your own room when you need a minute. The new world that is college comes with an entirely different living situation. One that for many is a challenging idea to comprehend. However, you cant live in your childhood home forever. We have to leave the nest at some point. Use this as the first part of becoming the person you have desired to be all your life. The moving process really is the first part to your new beginning. make the most of what it can be, and the experiences to follow are sure to be amazing.

Community, it is defined as a feeling of fellowship with others. I was fortunate enough to grow up in a place where the sense of community was always strong. Everyone was always there for one another, and there was never a moment where you felt like you were going to have to face things alone. Our community helps build us into the people we are today, and it is because of this that we are scared to adapt to a new community. For these are the people who know your past. They were there for you when the unimaginable occurred. For some people, such as myself, we come from pasts where we have had to learn how to overcome the unthinkable. Others however simply have not. This makes the transition into a new community extremely challenging. We fear the idea of having to share our past with others who have no idea exactly what we went through. This is our chance to start over. Your community back home will always be there for you when you need it, but this is your opportunity to rise above your past, and come out a better person, allowing yourself to build a new bond with a new community.

Leaving your family, probably the most controversial thing about heading in to a whole new chapter of life. See you are never really leaving them. They are going to check up on you the most, and see you more then anybody. They will still nag, and want to know how absolutely everything is going as a way to comfort them in your absence. Your siblings will be sad, and your parents will cry because this too is a whole new world for them. Do not push them out when they try to do all of this. They are doing it because they love you, and miss you so much. After all, these are the people who have seen you at your weirdest, happiest, and sadist. They have been with you through everything. They are the one guaranteed thing that wont change in your new life. So although it is sad not waking up to your mom cooking breakfast, and your siblings running around the house, they will still be there to check up on you every step of the way.

We would be lying if we all said we were ready for what is to come. There is no amount of advice that can prepare us for the new adventure we are about to endure upon. We are entering into a whole new world with a completely new “fantastic point of view”. We have “no one to tell us no or where to go.” This is up to us now. Use your past as a motivation, and only leave behind the things that were bringing you down before. It is a change moving to a different place, with different people, but the important things will always follow you into “a whole new world.”