College. It seemed foreign for so long. Then one day you're 18 and your summer is limited; you leave in august. You push it to the back of your mind and don't really think of the emotional part of it.

It's August and you start packing and choosing wisely how you spend your last days at home. It is finally starting to hit you. You're getting ready for a big transition.

Growing up in a small town I think we can all say that we hated it at times. The phrase " you don't know what you got until its gone" comes into play here. I miss it. It's only the first month so it is normal but I reminice on all the fun memories I have in that small town. It holds all the late night drives and conversations, all the heartbreak, and all the laughing until you can't breathe. It holds all the sport victories you've had, all your firsts, your favorite restraunt where you would eat every week, all the high school homecomings and sport games. Everything. Your childhood. Walking through the hall and knowing everyone, seeing your favorite teachers, the kids you've been next to for 18 years, its all about to be gone. The town you know like the back of your hand; where the drive to somewhere is always short. It's going to change forever. You think you're ready, but are you? I don't think you totally are.

Don't get me wrong, the University I picked couldn't get any better, I love it. But it's a new feeling. The first week is nothing like you've ever experienced. You do not know anyone. They don't know you. You are the youngest here. The babies of the college. You don't know where any of your classes are. You aren't use to the new scheduale or your classes. You are put in a dorm with a stranger. You share bathrooms and showers with your floor. You have to wear shower shoes to be sanitary. Your best friends aren't next to you. You don't know your teachers. Your parents aren't here. No one cares whether you come to class or not. No one reminds you of assignments due. You get a heavier load of homework (a lot). You are absolutley alone. You have to guide yourself through this. The first few days I hated it. I wasn't use of having no friends to lean on.

But I will tell you, it gets better. I happened to luck out with my roommate and we are good friends now. You will make friends, it just takes time. You will get comfortable. Your friends miss you, so do your parents. But they are also proud of you, you have to stick it through. You get use to the new way of living and get into a routine. During the down times though, you think about home and the memories. That's when you start to miss it and being in a familiar place. You have to grow on your own.

It's only the first month of freshman year at college, there is so many memories yet to be made. With the good times comes the bad. School will get so overwhelming and hard but you can do it. Do it for your family back home but most importantly do it for yourself. That small town made you into who you were. You wouldn't be the same without it. So maybe that boring town maybe is worth something little. When I get sad, I think of those close to me still at home, and my friends across the country that I love; I have to make them proud. That is what makes me get back up and know I am in the right place.

My advice to you is that time doesn't stop for you, even if you're not ready. So don't waste it, because one day you will want to go back to all those good times you had but you can't. This is the time to make yourself into the person you always talked about being.

So go do it, but don't ever forget where you came from.