The past week and a half of my life have been hectic. I spent it packing all my things up, moving into a dorm, adjusting to dorm life, rushing sororities and starting college classes. I must say it has been a HUGE adjustment.

I just started school at the College of Charleston in Charleston, South Carolina. This has been a big week full of ups and downs and a lot of trying to get used to everything (especially the weather,) considering I am from the San Francisco Bay Area, California.

I am really far from home. When I look at it on the map, two thousand and five hundred miles really didn't seem that far. I was wrong, it is pretty far.

I am still getting used to the time change, I am three hours ahead every day than most of my friends who stayed on the west coast.

I didn't know anyone when coming to the school, which can be a good and bad thing. I still have to explore a lot of the city that I will be spending the next four years in. I still have to get rainboots for hurricane season (MAJOR adjustment we only worry about earthquakes in California!!)

I still need to figure out how to deal with this humidity. I still need to get so much figured out while balancing school activities.

But at the same time, this is exactly what I asked for. I've lived in California my entire life, I wanted something new. I wanted to branch out and do what a lot of my friends weren't gonna do.

I wanted the crazy change in weather, the thought of having to start from scratch, the ability to organize my time to balance everything out, the time change, etc. It seemed exciting to me.

When it comes to deciding where you want to go to school for the next 4 years if you have the option I would recommend branching out as much as possible.

It's okay to jump into the unknown if you're ready for a challenge like that. You should prepare to be anxious, to be homesick, to be nervous, scared, overwhelmed. But it's also an exciting time. It is worth a shot. I know my week and a half so far has been overwhelming, emotional, confusing, but also worth it.