Being from Wisconsin and going to school in Indiana, I definitely experienced the foreign feeling of going to college out of state. It is the first time you are really away from home and on your own. No matter if you're a six-hour flight away or a fivw-hour drive away, the struggle of being far from home is real.

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1. The long drives (or flights) to and from school.

There is something unexplainable and satisfying about leaving your tiny dorm room or apartment after a long and difficult semester to return to the comfort of your own home. However, for us out-of-staters, we have to power through all of the traveling in order to get there. Once that's over, it is totally worth it. Still, it's longer than your roommate's short, one-hour drive home to their parents' farm.

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2. You have to make sure you bring every single thing you will need for the next nine months in your limited amount of suitcases when you arrive at school in August.

Admit it, no matter where you live, Indianapolis or San Francisco, you have forgotten at least one thing that you need at home. Sure, if you forget your toothpaste or a pair of jeans you can buy new ones, but when you leave your beloved stuffed teddy bear behind, you can't just take a quick trip home next weekend to grab it because you live halfway across the country.

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3. You will without a doubt miss your pet(s) and not be able to cuddle them until the next long break.

No matter how many daily pictures and videos your mom sends you of them, it doesn't suffice for the yearning you have to lay on the couch with your childhood pet all day.

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4. You will also miss your family, regardless of how much they annoy you when you're home.

Nothing will ever compare to sitting around the dinner table simply laughing and talking with your family. You're not being judged, and even if you are, it is by your family so who cares because they are stuck with you anyway!

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5. There will be times when your family members forget to tell you important things that happen while you're gone.

Oh, it says on Facebook that your sister got a new boyfriend. Hmm, you didn't even know she was seeing anyone. It's always a great surprise to find things out on the internet, isn't it? I went to college, I didn't fall off the face of the earth.

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6. You're going to crave your favorite food from a local, hometown restaurant that your college town does not have.

Sometimes Jimmy John's and cardboard-crust pizza delivery just won't cut it.

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7. You will have to put up with and explain the misinterpretations of any stereotypes associated with your home state to the in-staters. Yes, I live in Wisconsin. No, my diet does not consist of beer and cheese. Out-of-state students, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

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8. Lastly, the one thing that most differentiates the in-state students from the out-of-state students is a little something we like to call tuition.

“Wow," your in-state roommate says, “you pay

that much to go here?" Yes, yes I do. They might as well take an arm or a leg, am I right? It is 100% worth it, though, and I know I'm right about that, too.

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It is both a blessing and a curse to go to college out-of-state. You sacrifice much more for your education than an in-state student does, but you also gain an added independence and responsibility. If you love your school as much as I do, you'll forget that you aren't really from that far from home anyway!