Excited? Scared? Happy? Nervous?

Try all of the above.

As an incoming freshman starting college in less than two months, it's safe to say I am feeling an entire mix of emotions.

One day, I'm beyond excited, on the edge of my seat waiting for move-in day, and the next, I'm a total mess of being sad and anxious because of leaving my family.

There are definitely pros and cons of this whole new experience, but they are pros and cons that everyone experiences.

Not too long ago, I was having a rough day and my mom was there for me.

As all of this was happening, all I could think about was college. I'm not going to be able to sit with my mom and just rant out my feelings and the details of my day each night before bed anymore.

Sure there are phone calls and texting and FaceTime, but I know it won't be the same. When I told her this, she gave me some pretty great advice: don't focus on the negative.

Yeah, I know. Pretty generic, but despite its unoriginality, it is a good phrase to live by.

College is gonna be rough and a lot different than high school. There will be tons of new people and a whole new environment that I don't know too well.

I'm going to have to come out of my shell all over again. But there's a lot more to it than all of that.

I'm going to be given new challenges and grow as a person by facing them. I will make new friends and adjust to my new home away from home. I'll learn my way around in no time.

I am going to start college as the version of me that I am now and continue growing as a person; there's no starting over as your old self, just a fresh beginning as your current self with new people.

In less than two months, I will be on my way to Susquehanna University with a car full of clothes, bedding, dorm decorations, and probably lots and lots of tears (not just mine).

So, despite my jumbled mess of emotions at the moment, I'm going to have to say the one that wins out over all others is excitement.

I'm excited for the next chapter of my life, I'm excited to learn and prepare for my career, I'm excited to meet new people, and most of all, I'm excited to be scared.

There is no part of me that doubts the fear I'll feel on move-in day, and for that whole week to be honest, but it's something new; everyone will be somewhat scared or nervous.

If you're not scared of the situation you're in sometimes, you're not living your life to the fullest. Being scared means you're doing something you haven't done before and you don't know what outcomes will be.

This is a good thing!

Different outcomes can mean multiple things. Progress, setbacks, and anything in between.

There are risks; that's a part of life. It can be scary to try these new things and not know what your outcome will be, but in my eyes, a failure isn't really a failure unless you perceive it that way.

You can fail and look at it as a huge setback and be upset, and then it really is a failure, but you can also fail and learn from it. Move on. The longer you mope around, the longer your success will take.

The most successful people in the world have gone through failure and that is 100% okay.

What everyone, including myself, needs to remember is that failing at one thing does not mean you failed at life. Look at the big picture. Did you fail a test in high school? Probably, but guess what?

You still graduated and are moving on to college. It's no different in college or in life. One failure does not mean you fail overall.

So, as I and many others begin our transition from high school to college, what we truly need to remember is that there are pros and cons, but you can't sit and focus on the negatives, or your failures.

The pros outweigh the cons as long as we have a positive mindset, and that will hopefully make all the difference in my future college life.