Going to college out of state was never my plan. However, I decided to tour my current college at the last minute, and I fell in love with absolutely everything about it... except its location. It is six hours away and one state over from my hometown. However, I decided to go anyways, and I am so glad I did. Being far from home can be a challenge, but this challenge has helped me tremendously.

I quickly learned how to be an adult. Before college, I had never driven more than two hours at once. Now I am able to drive over six hours in one day, all alone in the car. I can drive through traffic jams, horrendous weather and construction zones. I have also had to figure out alternative routes when the traffic became too massive, ignoring my GPS as it repeatedly tells me to go back into a logjam. I have also flown home a few times, which means I now know how to get around one of the largest airports in the US. I also had to run to the check-in desk in order to change flights when my original one was cancelled (after MANY delays). In addition to the frustrations of traveling from school to home and vice-versa, I have to do mundane, boring tasks regularly, such as doing my own laundry (with the extra annoyance of sharing the machines with two floors of my dorm), going to the grocery store, taking my car to the tire shop, making my own appointments, the list goes on and on. You do have to be able to do all of this at some point, and it makes me extra grateful for my parents.

I am really on my own. I cannot depend on my parents to get me out of any bind. Since they can only help via phone or email, I for the most part have to solve both academic and personal issues independently. It takes more of an effort to go to class, knowing that they may never find out that I skipped. I have to have a good amount of motivation. Being sick is the worst. I have to go to the doctor and wait (usually for an insanely long time) at the pharmacy for medication. Then, I have to just take care of myself for the entire duration that I am ill. I have to take full responsibility for absolutely everything.

I have met different people and have experienced living in a different place. Unlike everything else that I have mentioned so far, this is solely a benefit and not annoying tasks I have to fulfill. Before college, about 95% of the people I met were from the same state as me. They had similar ways of speaking, religions, political beliefs, etc. At college, I have met people from all over the state of Texas, both the west and east coasts and the Midwest. I even know people who are from Vietnam and Rwanda. It is interesting to hear their perspectives on things. It has been great to get out in the world and meet a diverse group of people. A friend from Maryland confessed that she somewhat couldn't understand me at first because of my accent. That is definitely different than how I grew up in my hometown. I lived in the same place my whole life, so moving to one of the biggest cities in the country was interesting. There are actually skyscrapers here. The stores are completely filled with people at all hours of the day. I am surrounded by interstates. I don't have to make a two-hour drive just to go eat at the Cheesecake Factory. I can walk around one of the most famous downtown areas in the country. There are many more entertainment opportunities.

People ask me all of the time if I get homesick. I always say "just a little". Because while I love where I came from, I also love where I'm at. I live two different lives: one at home and one at college. While this gets tiring at times, I wouldn't trade this experience for anything else.