I was that girl that desperately wanted to get away from home, throw myself into college, into a new city, and start the rest of my life even though I had no idea what that meant. I was a walking cliche of someone who hated high school and only ever hung out at coffee shops and thought that once I got out of my small town I would just blossom into some really cool person and my life would fall into place. And guess what? I was kind of right; I’m not really all that cool but it seems that all my cards have fallen in the most perfect places. Moving to Louisville and making it my home has been my best decision so far in life and the thing I am most grateful for. Here are (some of) the reasons why:

I learned how to be independent.

I had to get my own toilet paper and I had to figure out where the closest place to even buy toilet paper was. I had to make sure I ate every day, which was harder than I ever would have thought. I had to make sure I got home safe; make sure my friends got home safe. I had to clean my bathroom, and my bedroom, and the kitchen. I had to do my own laundry, which is a new level of difficult when your entire floor also needs to do their laundry on the same day at the same time. Slowly but surely, and without realizing it, I learned how to depend on myself fully and how to provide for myself fully, too. Of course, I called my parents every 14 seconds to make sure I was buying the right kind of allergy medicine or to make sure we always drank 2% milk and confirm that’s the kind I should buy or to find out if I’m drinking enough water or for absolutely no reason except to hear their breathing, but I did begin to be able to answer my own questions and decide which coffee creamer to buy without calling the whole family.

I learned how to take care of myself.

I starting listening to myself and to my body. I learned how to take time to make sure that I’m okay, to decompress. There’s much, much more going on in my life now than ever before and I’ve had to get to know myself in a way I hadn’t had to, but it has been the most important thing I’ve done. Life is stressful and college brings a whole new degree of anxiety to my world. When I feel myself get overwhelmed or even just if it has been a long week, I am able to recognize that I need a minute to relax. Sometimes I have to sit in my bed and play “The Heart of Life” a minimum of 18 times before I decide I’m capable of moving on with my day and sometimes I’m just able to grab a vanilla cold brew and that’s okay. The important part is that I learned how to know when I need to take time for myself.

I have a new level of empathy.

I’ve metso many new people in so many different parts of their lives and I understand much more now that you truly do not know how good you have it. I have developed a new kind of empathy for not only the people in my life, but the people outside of it, too. I have seen a plethora of different struggles on all ends of the spectrum since moving to this big city and I am so thankful to be able to say it’s helped me learn to have a greater understanding of the importance of being grateful for what I have and the importance of being there for others and empathizing with them when they need it.

I go out in public looking like I rolled out of bed (I did).

I stopped caring about my appearance!! After years of obsessing over what I look like and what I look like in comparison to others, I have finally realized that it doesn’t matter if I have on mascara when I go to Walgreens to get a cherry sprite. Obviously, there are times that it is important to me to look and feel put together and beautiful, but I’m finally able to realize that 100% of the time is not the time to be put together and beautiful. It is incredible to not worry about always having makeup on, always having my hair brushed and put in a neat little pony tail, always making sure my sweatshirt isn’t too baggy, or always looking “pretty”. It feels so good to look like a mess in public, I really believe everyone should try it at least once.

I am able to be a better friend.

Moving to a city in which I knew approximately 6 people really pushed me to find and develop friendships. Getting away from my high school relationships and figuring out that some of them were more toxic than I realized helped me see what I want/need in a friendship and in turn helped me see how to become the kind of friend that people need. It’s about caring, giving, loving; it’s not about all the things that I used to think. I’ve gained the most incredible friends and relationships since being in Louisville and that is probably my favorite thing this city brought to me.