It was a fantastic year full of fun and also some stress. My freshman year was one of the toughest but also one of the greatest years of my life. I experienced so much in such a small amount of time and I experienced on my own. I didn't have my parents around every step of the way. This time, it was just me. I had to be on my own for the first time in my life, with nobody there telling me not to do that stupid thing I was going to regret. I could call my mom, but she wasn't physically there. Same with my dad and my brother. It was weird being almost three hours from home. It was like I had this brand new life where not a single person knew me besides my classmates. It was a different feeling, though, and at the beginning of freshman year, I didn't know how I felt about it.

As the year went on, I realized there were both pros and cons to me being so far from home. The pros were that I was becoming more independent, making more decisions on my own, and I was maturing. Being on your own gives you no choice but to grow up. The cons are that you either get things done yourself or they don't get done at all. If you slack on your laundry, your mom isn't right there behind you to pick it up. It's all on you. I had a love-hate relationship with that part of it, but now that the year is over, I have realized that it's helped me grow as a person. It helped me get to know myself better and to know what decisions I am able to make on my own. It helped me learn from my mistakes.

As the year concluded and I packed everything up to come home, I felt sadness. I was leaving the home that I felt like I had just moved into just to come back home for the summer. Don't get me wrong, I was excited to come home to spend time with my family and friends. Yet a part of me was heartbroken to leave the place that I had just spent the last year learning to love — the place that has helped me figure out not only who I am, but who I want to be.

They say that college isn't for everybody, but I know it's for me, for sure. I loved every last minute that I spent in Morgantown. (Even the ones where I was diving head-first into my books for hours upon hours.) I love school and I always have. That's what made it so hard for me to leave, but now that I am home, I realized I'm happy here, too. This is my home and I'll always love it.

Things are a little different when you come back, though. You have your mom to help you when you slack on your laundry. You have both your parents back by your side for three months and I will be the first one to tell you that it's odd. I got so used to doing everything on my own. I got used to my friends at WVU and coming back home to my high school friends is also a little weird. It's a good weird, though. It makes me feel like I'm back to myself in a way, but I also feel different because I know I've grown as a person in the last year at school. Either way, I'm happy to be home for three months and to make memories with my family and friends here. Then in the fall, I'll go back and do it all over again.