Three years ago I was shaking in Bed Bath and Beyond with my mom trying to figure out which mirror I wanted for my vanity. I was startled with even the thought of leaving Florida and packing up to head off to The University of Arizona. Everything seemed so far during my senior year until the late months of June and July hit. Every day felt just a little bit closer to a new reality that I would have never expected. It was scary, yet so exciting to think about this new place that I would be spending the next four years of my life at. Speaking to people online and having endless GroupMe's of incoming students, lessened the anxiety of not knowing anyone. I was the only person from my high school going to Arizona, and everyone thought I was absolutely crazy for going so far.

The day came that I had to say bye to everything I knew for the past 18 years and look at the newest part of my life which would be college. Luckily I came during Panhellenic recruitment, so I was kept busy and barely had time to think about even being upset about saying goodbye to my family. I'm not going to lie, goodbye's suck but it makes the next hello's even better and more exciting. Everything seemed to be moving faster than I could have ever imagined, and my college life was flashing before my eyes. Next thing I knew, I would be wrapping up my first semester and figuring out the next steps in my major while adding a minor.

There would be days that I would miss my family and think about what it would be like to go to school locally. Yet, then I would think about how much I've grown over the few months that I have been away, and there would be nothing but a smile that would cross my face. Some days you'll just want to run home to your parents and tell them everything that's wrong without thinking about what's right, but at the end of the day, you're in the right place for the right reasons. The decisions that you've made up to here have been correct and only to further your future and steer you in the right direction. You know yourself the best, and this was the right move for YOU.

You're going to have people in your ear sometimes, telling you what's wrong or what's right. Remember to stay true to yourself and always remember how you grew up and the person that you were before you came to college. You'll always have a piece of that person you were within you, but you'll constantly be growing which is ok. We can never predict the changes that we want in our lives, we can hope for what we want to see in the future yet nothing is completely determined. College is a strange reality that only exists in the bounds of your cross-streets and lecture halls. It's the best experience of your life and the strangest one as well which makes it your own.