I understand going out of state for college isn’t for everyone, but even if you just go a couple hours away, it’ll be worth it. Trust me. I went away, and I want to encourage others to do the same even if it’s just for a year. It can be intimidating at first to pack up your life and move away from your family to a place where you don’t know anybody. But at the same time, it is so freeing. I moved from Niles, Ohio to Berea, Kentucky (about six hours away) when I was 17, and I didn’t know a soul. My parents dropped me off and drove 400 miles back home, and I was stuck there in the middle of Kentucky by myself. I was scared but so excited at the same time. I’ve been in that small town in Kentucky for two years now, and I love being away at school. Why should you go away to school? I have six reasons.

You get to start over and reinvent yourself.

Nobody knows you here. You can be whoever you want. You don’t have to be the same person everyone knew you as in high school if you don’t want to be. You no longer have to be defined by your siblings or your last name or who you dated or what sports you played. You get to be defined by you. You are given a brand new, clean slate the minute you walk onto campus. Use it wisely.

Your relationship with your family gets stronger.

Distance really does make the heart grow fonder. Don’t get me wrong, I love my family and I love being around them, but there are times when you just need to get away and have some alone time. Being away at school helps. You can hang up the phone after arguing and chill out with 400+ miles between you instead of having to see/hear each other. Also, when you don’t see or talk to them every day, you begin to appreciate the conversations more when you do, and you argue less. You also appreciate the time spent with them more since those moments are few and far between.

You appreciate your hometown more.

If you’re anything like me, by the time your senior year of high school rolled around, you had a serious case of wanderlust and couldn’t wait to get out of your hometown. Once you leave and experience living elsewhere, you gain appreciation for where you grew up. You even like coming back. It holds a lot of memories for you, and it’s nice to come see your family. It’s nice to know I can come back and visit. It’s also nice to know I can leave again.

You meet people from all over the world.

I might be in a unique position since my school is comprised of so many international students and students from all over the United States. You can’t go anywhere on campus without seeing someone of a different race or nationality than you. You get to experience tons of different cultures and languages. You get to interact with people from countries you’ve never even heard of before. It is so awesome to experience and be a part of such a diverse group of people.

You begin to feel more like an adult.

Mommy and daddy aren’t there to do everything anymore. We all come from different backgrounds and had different magnitudes of chores expected of us growing up. But once you leave home, you have to do it all. Do your laundry. Wash your dishes. Cook for yourself. Something’s broken? You need to fix it. You experience doctor’s appointments, hospital visits, apartment hunting, trips to the mechanic, grocery shopping, etc. all by yourself. You can’t rely on mom or dad to come help you when your car breaks down or when you have a flat tire. Sometimes it’s exhausting having to act like be an adult every day, but it really prepares you for the real world beyond college and dorm life.

You develop a new family.

When you go to a school like Berea College, most of the students are not from the area. You are all experiencing life on your own and away from home together. You all have different talents, and you learn to rely on each other. If you need help pushing your car or jumping your car or cooking something or moving in, you have a support system there to help you out. I know I have a group of friends that I can count on for help with anything whether it be financially, physically, spiritually, emotionally, mentally or otherwise. When you’re all away from home, you begin to develop your own little family that loves each other and takes care of each other. The experiences you share and memories you make will last a lifetime. You become a better person because of the people you surround yourself with.

All in all, I have loved life away from home and on my own. I live in a dorm on campus in a small Kentucky town, and I love it. I know it’s not for everyone, but it is for me. I think we can all benefit from getting away even if it’s just for a semester. You never know, you might end up loving it.