Ah, it's finally here.

It seems like you've been counting down the days until you got to leave for college. Four years in that hot, packed, high school and it sounds as if college is almost a glimpse of heaven. Freedom to do what you want, a room to your own(or with a roommate), and get this, you don't have classes 5 days a week, 8 hours at a time! Much better than compacting your weeks with classrooms and busy work, right?

You say your goodbyes to the friends that are staying home or heading to another school, and continue packing with swollen eyes. Although you're insanely excited to go, you're just as sad to leave them! And my goodness, your dog. You actually have to experience a life without greetings at the door and having the whole bed to yourself for an afternoon nap. But that'll just make your next encounter two hundred times better.

Next thing you know the drive to your school becomes a lot shorter than your initial freshman orientation and boom, you're at your dorm room. Your family comes to move things in and get set in place, but mostly mom just wants to ensure you're safe. Your parents tear up as they say goodbye. As you shut the door when they exit your room, remember you're opening a new door to what's next.

Welcome weekend passes by and you figure out where all your classes are. Syllabus week slowly creeps by and you start to get a hang of your college schedule. Your first paper, group project, and 40 pages of reading out of a book that costed $150. You figure out where to pick up packages and when the best time to eat is. You join clubs you never would dream of in high school and have met so many awesome people, already.

But that all goes by so fast, too. And it's week four now. You take back every complaint about high school work load and food is scarce in your dorm room. 9 a.m. classes didn't sound so bad but now you struggle to roll out of bed.

And you can't help but think, what if I were home?

Well, this is your sign saying it's okay to miss home.

It's okay to question if you've made the right decision about going away. This is a whole new life ahead of you, of course you're going to be a little speculative about it. It's okay to miss getting ready for the Friday night football game against your school's rivalry team and it's even more okay to wish you were homecoming dress shopping. The pep assemblies, your extracurricular clubs, and sharing a locker with your best friend. These are all things that college doesn't necessarily have.

But, you also need to remember what lies ahead for you.

No, you don't have your high school best friends packed in the stands at the football field, but you do have thousands of fans supporting your college team decked out in your school colors. No, you don't have class at the same time as all your friends, but you do get to pick what you want to study, what classes you want to take, and how much effort you're going to put in. Extra circulars gone, you say? More than likely your college offers hundreds of clubs, intramural sports, and fraternities and sororities that are so open to you joining that they are willing to stand outside at a kiosk during Campus Life Night to hand you free stuff. And have you heard about Study Abroad? You for real get to experience life as a student in another country of your choice.

So, yeah, you're leaving a lot of things behind as you transfer from high school to college. But don't forget all the things that come along with getting a degree.

Almost everyone gets caught up in missing home, and it's nothing you need to be embarrassed about. But remind yourself to keep an open mind to this new path and take advantage of everything it offers.