Home is an absolutely wonderful place. It is a place that is full of memories, familiarity, and comfort. It's where you learned to drive, graduated high school, got your first job. The list goes on and on. While it is great and all, a lot of people get so comfortable that they never leave, or decide to leave but never end up doing so. That is why home should be a place that you come and visit, not a place you stay forever. I left right out of high school. It was a very tough decision, but one of the best that I've ever made. I am not saying that everyone needs to follow in my footsteps, but I am highly recommending creating a home away from home. Everyone deserves to enjoy what the world has to offer.

Christmas is only a little ways away and I cannot wait to see my family and high school friends. They are what makes visiting so special. They are also the people that motivate me to strive for greatness. My goal is to show all of them that there is more outside of our hometown. More to see and more to experience. There is an incredible world of opportunity, and once you get a taste, the hunger for new adventures and memories never really stops. I feel like so many people get a good job or start a family somewhere and just decide, "this is it. This is where our life will be." Well, it's not. Something like a family or a good job makes it a lot harder to leave, but staying in the place simply for those reasons, is no reason to stay. Why live somewhere that has nothing left to offer you?

So all you youngsters, I greatly encourage you to be brave and move to a place you're unfamiliar with. This may be a state away. It may be across the country. It may be across the world, but wherever it is, I promise you that it will be rich in experience. Being out of the bubble you call home will completely change your perspective, and probably change your life. It teaches you so much about yourself and what you are capable of, and it makes you appreciate home and the people in it more than you could ever know. Take it from a girl who almost stayed at home. This is the time to find where you want to be, rather then settle for where you have to be.