I have lived in the same city my entire life. It’s not too small, and it’s not too big, but after a while, always being surrounded by the same things can get old. On top of that, I went to the same small school for 12 years. Of the 64 people in my graduating class, I had known a majority of them since middle and elementary school. We wore the same uniforms every week, drove the same roads every morning, and talked to the same people every day.
When I was younger, I knew nothing other than this routine, and therefore was never phased by the fact that my life hardly ever changed. It wasn’t until I began researching colleges to apply to that I realized there was a whole world outside of my small, familiar bubble, and that terrified me.
After years and years of doing the same things every day, I had no clue how I would handle moving somewhere else, even if it was only an hour away. People began asking me what I wanted to study, what I was looking for in a school and if I wanted to go out of state. At first, the idea of leaving the state I had grown up in was one I thought I would never consider; however, after further research, I realized I wanted nothing more.
Once I decided that Arizona State was the school for me, I began counting the months until I left. The rest of my senior year was spent doing endless research on all the things I could get involved in once I was in Arizona, and hoping I could get a big enough scholarship in order to go (out of state tuition isn’t cheap, people). When we were finally in the homestretch and graduation was just around the corner, my friends started to get sad about our impending departures and the fact that we wouldn’t be able to see each other every day, just as we had for years and years; however I was extremely excited about this. I love my friends, my hometown and the familiarity of it all, but I desperately needed a change in my life.
When I finally arrived in Arizona, I wasn’t disappointed. I am now a sophomore at ASU, and I have experienced more change in one year here than I did in 18 at home. College is full of experiences and first times, and I have loved every minute of it. I have gotten the chance to join some seriously amazing organizations, shop at new stores, eat at new places, and meet a ton of new people.
I am still only a few hours from home, so I have the opportunity to visit often, and that has been great. I am able to live my own life in another state but still be close enough to go home when I need to. I am blessed enough to have parents who support me in whatever I do, so no matter where I go, I know I will always have somewhere to call home. I can’t wait to see what the rest of my college years have in store for me, and I highly recommend attending college out of state to anyone who is considering it.
