You get home from high school, and open your front door to find the same familiar faces. Your pets, your family, your bedroom, all things that are apart of your daily routine. You see the same people, the same sights, the same facilities everyday. You're getting ready to graduate high school and you're torn between one question: Should I stay or should I go? I say go, and here is why.
You will mature.
Suddenly, you are hours away from home, alone, and not a single face is familiar. Who your parents are no longer matters because no one knows who you are let a lone your parents. You have to create your own reputation for yourself and that can be scary because not only does your social status depend on it but your career does too. You learn to see the world from a different perspective. It doesn't matter who plays what sport, or if you even play a sport at all. It doesn't matter if you get invited to go shopping with a group of girls, or if you pick to just hang out and watch Netflix by yourself. No one cares. You mature, and realize that your an adult reaching for your own goals and that's all that should ever have mattered.
You will meet new people.
You're whole life so far has been filled with familiar faces. The kids in your classes are the same kids on the athletic fields, and the same kids you played hopscotch with on the playground are the same kids you share work shifts with at the local McDonald's. In fact, you probably find it difficult to meet someone completely new that you haven't already been exposed to through social events, let alone social media.
Going away for college picks you up and puts you down in a completely new environment filled with completely new faces and it's amazing. It is a clean slate to start fresh and make new connections. No one knows about past relationships, or that time you were the laughing stalk of the ninth grade, and quite frankly no one cares because everyone wants a new beginning. You are able to make so many new connections that will last a lifetime.
You will learn to be independent.
In high school you think independent is being able to drive to get ice cream whenever you want, or being able to go to parties on the weekend without you're parents knowing. If you go away to college independence is completely redefined. Independence means being able to provide groceries for yourself without reaching zero in your account, and let's not forget about gas. Independence means figuring out who to call and what time your available when the pot holes get the best of your old tire on the front right side.
Independence is being able to make decisions with out your parents, knowing that they can't do anything about it if you chose the wrong one. College teaches you independence that allows you to grow up and stand up for yourself. If you stay home and continue to rely one your parents day in and day out, will you really be ready for what comes next?
You will receive a reality check.
The past four years have be dependent on the people inside the walls of your high school. "He said, she said" spreads like wildfire and it is important who is the talk of the hallways. Grades and finding a college are important to you, but how many likes you get on Instagram or who your date to the next school dance is probably more important.
When you go away to college, no one cares if you were your soccer team's captain. No one cares if you know the latest dances filtering around on social media. When you go away you grow up, and you reach for the goals you've been thinking about for years and so does everyone else around you. If you stay home, the environment never changes and everyone continues to care because everyone knows everyone's story and everyone is afraid to change.
You will learn to appreciate your home town.
Before you leave, you complain about how there is absolutely nothing to do here; but once you leave, you realize that your home town has made you who you are. You gain a whole new appreciation for the people who helped you grow and pushed you to your fullest potential.
The mom and pop restaurants taste even better when you've being stuffing in college cafeteria food, and the familiar faces in the grocery store make shopping actually enjoyable. Sometimes it takes an outsider looking in to realize how much your roots really mean to you.
You will learn how important family really is.
When you live with your family for 18 years it feels like an eternity and you can't wait to bust out of there. But the moment you spend your first week away you're homesick and just missing the company of your family. You gain a whole new appreciation for your family when your away for weeks or even months at a time. You long for dinner table conversation or to cuddle up with your dog on the couch. You will even miss your brother nagging you about who knows what, and watching movies together even if you both are silent. When you go away, you realize how much your family actually does for you and what important role they play in your daily life.
You will find yourself.
The most important thing about going away for college is that you will find yourself. Because you are on your own figuring out how this thing called adulthood works, you become familiar with what you excel in, and especially your flaws. You figure out who you really are as an individual without the pressure of the peers you have surrounded yourself with for years. You figure out where you want to go in the world, and what you want to do with the intelligence and opportunities God has blessed you with so far. You create an adventure for yourself filled with positive and negatives that will shape you for the rest of your life.
Going away for college is the best ride I have ever decided to get on, and I hope you too, get to experience the thrill.
