1. I needed to be more independent

Growing up as an only child, my parents definitely had a tendency to baby me. Not to the point that I didn't know how to do laundry, or how to cook my own food, in fact, I was very adamantly independent. But I did take advantage of the fact that my parents would call and make doctors appointments, go to Walgreens and get my cold medicine, and help me budget money and time. I knew that I would not be able to truly become a functioning adult if I'd stayed close to home.

2. I found a school I loved

Coming from my home state of Alabama, I had lots of awesome choices of in-state schools to go to. I was looking at Montevallo, Birmingham-Southern, Alabama, Auburn and Troy. The only thing that was missing was the degree program I wanted to be in, which was music business. I got a full tuition scholarship at Troy, my father's alma mater, but then I got accepted to Catawba and my eyes opened to what could be. Catawba was exactly what I was looking for. I visited twice, and I felt at home, and that's something I couldn't say at Troy. I'm paying more to go to school up here, but it's totally worth it to me. I don't recommend paying more than you have to, but for me, it was the right decision.

3. I have family in the area

This was a biggie for me. If I was going to move a whole seven-hour drive away from home, I needed to be close to a family member, and up here I have several within driving distance. My closest relative is a short 30-minute drive away, and he has put me in touch with a close friend of his that could be here in under 15 minutes if I ever needed someone right away. I also have an aunt and a first cousin that live only 2.5 hours away. This means that if it all gets to be too much have family to stay with and a close by place to go on long weekends. It just makes me feel safer. I might not have chosen to move all the way up here if I didn't have family so close by.

4. I wanted to move to where failure was not an option

When life gets too hard, I have a tendency to pack up and move on. I went to four different high schools, and two of those shifts came out of fear and mental illness. For me, it was important to make a move so big that I could not get out of my decision. North Carolina was that for me, it was too far to drive home for a weekend, when I moved up here, that was it. I was stuck here until I could get a flight or until Thanksgiving or Christmas. I knew my immediate family wouldn't make the trek too often either. I wanted the independence that I had to take care of things myself. I call my mom all the time to ask questions, and to help me figure out solutions to problems, but not once since I've been here has she solved my problem for me. I had to woman up and do it for myself and that has been really empowering.

I'll end on this note, in the end, I didn't really have a choice to go to school out of state. My parents moved 11 hours away from my hometown, the week before I started school. When I picked Catawba, I had no idea that my drive would lengthen from 7 hours to 9-10 hours. It didn't really matter where I ended up, whether I stayed in Alabama or moved up to North Carolina, home moved away from me. As advice to anyone who is concerned about moving too far, or that they've made a bad decision about moving away for school. I'd say go for it, I'm a stronger woman, a smarter woman, and a braver woman because I chose to move out of state. I'd also say go for because you never know what the future holds. When I applied to Catawba, I thought my parents would live and work in place I grew up in forever, when in reality they moved to a tropical paradise. So as the Nike brand would say "Just do it."