1. Not all friends stay with you.
You know those girls you spent every saturday night with eating ice cream and binging on your favorite show? Chances are those girls will slowly fade away as you move. FaceTime calls will become shorter, and then less.You won't find yourself turning to them about something new or exciting in life, and you realize you're also not sure what is happening in their lives. You have met new people who you spend your weekends with, who get the first text when there's news, who you start to realize are more involved in who you are now. Some friends will continue to be the ones you stay up late to facetime, who randomly send you letters, who are still just as involved with your life now as they were when you lived in the same town.
2. Mom was right.
You realize mom was right. You realize all your eye-rolling and snarky comebacks were misplaced. Because your mom knew that, yes you should wear that coat. No, you shouldn't do that. Yes, youre amazing at that. No, don't give in. Yes, practicality over fashion. Sleep over partying. Good work ethic over fun. She was right. You miss late night chats with her, and even her advice that once made you groan. You call her frequently with any and every question you have now, because who knows better than mom?
3. Being you is easier.
High school was a game of fitting in, your hometwon full of people just trying to fit into somewhere... anywhere. From the popular to the burn-outs. Everyone was just searching for a place. Leaving home and moving hundreds to thousands miles away made you see that really being you, in all your goofy, quirky, and unique splendor is exactly what you want to be. Leaving Home made you see that being who you are is the easiest thing to be. You will find that everyone is learning how to be themselves, and that you certianly are not alone in figuring it out. But, you love this journey.
4. The unknown is terrifying- and needed.
For whatever reason it was that made you move out of state- you were met with much unknown. You were faced with new questions, new trials, and you saw how little you knew and how much you needed to learn. It is undeniably terrifying. You're faced with so much, in a new place, and it can seem unmanageable at times. But you see how much growth and development came out of the things you've been faced with. You have become a stronger individual. You have realized more of who you are and what the world is.
5. New experiences... you WILL change.
You're going to see yourself changing, amost to an unidentifiable point. You won't be afraid of eating alone at resaurants. You took public transportation (and didn't die). You are friends with people you never thought you would be. You go shopping in your sweats and messy bun- because you're way more comfortable in your skin. You have changed your worldview and changed your perseption of thers. You have loosened your grip on control and always being right, but you've also learned how to have your voice heard. You have grown so much, that trips home turn into a never ending record player of "Wow, you've changed.".
6. High school didn't actually prepare you for anything.
You may not totally know how to do taxes, or make a good budget, or how to make any real meals. BUT, you do know that mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell, and how to find a slope of a graph. You realize though, that high school really didn't prepare you for moments that make real life overwhelming. The first time your bank account goes negative, the first time you have to sort through a pile of bils, the first time you realzie mac and cheese isn't something you want to live on forever. You need to figure out quite a lot of stuff... and quick. Your first call will probably be to your mom, because after all what doesn't she know?
7. Asking for help is okay.
You realize that being purely independent isn't all that realistic now. You learn that sometimes a helping hand is the only way to solve a problem. You see for the first time that everyone needs help, and there are times where it is YOU that is in need of help. You need to know where that coffee shop is, you don't know how to fill out this form, you need help studying, you don't know where the library is, you need to know how to work that thing. Asking for help is a necessity at points. You see this as true when you're states away from everything you know.
8. Popularity doesn't transfer from school to real life.
There is no cool kids table, there are no out casts, there's really very little social ranking when it comes to daily life. You learn to be kind to all, everyone is relatively kind back. You begin to see everyone as individuals, and you see even more the stupidity in how friend groups worked in high school. So, miss popular, I'm sorry.. but no one cares if you were homecoming queen. And kid who was made fun of for being nerdy, please share more of what you know with us. Let's all go get some deep dish pizza and be friends.
9. Home is your favorite place.
After years of dreaming of leaving your hometown, and your state, you find yourself finding that your favorite flight to book is your flight home. You love being back in the familiarity of home, knowing the local joints to eat, seeing family again, and grabbing coffee with people whom you haven't seen in ages. It seems like this place is always the same, and it makes for a great time away from regular life youve established in another state. All the familiar roads and sights are comforting and exciting to see again.
10. Moving was the best choice, it made you, well... YOU.
All the lessons you've learned show you one big thing: this was the best choice you could've made. You have had struggles, but also great victories. You have become a stronger individual than you thought possible. You love your life more than you knew you could. You have made the best friends, and met the most intriguing people. You may miss home sometimes, but you have found where you can grow and work towards becoming the best you that you can be.
