I was born in Connecticut and lived here for 13 years before I moved to South Carolina, right before freshman year of high school. At the time, I had no clue what I wanted to do, let alone where I wanted to go to school.

By the time senior year rolled around, I had done an open house at the University of Connecticut and left not knowing if I wanted to spend the next four years of my life there. I toured some schools in Boston, applied to a few closer to home, but ultimately decided to be a UConn Husky.

The reality of how far away from home I would be didn't really set in until I was in the car with my parents driving 14 hours for my freshman move in.

I was scared. I didn't have any friends at a school with a population almost as big as the town I lived in. My high school graduating class was less than 300 people and the possibility of being in a lecture hall with that many people was probable. I was intimidated by the size of the campus, how many people seemed to know what they were doing, and the overall reality that I was then a college freshman.

But guess what, those worries are temporary.

I made amazing friends, learned the Storrs campus like the back of my hand, and figured out that college is this amazing place where you are making connections that will last the rest of your life. Being almost 800 miles away from home didn't bother me anymore, I got to talk with my mom pretty often and I missed the comfort of my own bed (a lot nicer than my twin XL), but I was there for a purpose.

There was a feeling in my stomach the whole time that made me feel like I was meant to be here, distance didn't matter at that point. The friends I made, the classes I was taking, and the experiences I was having felt like they had been waiting for me. If I had played it safe and stayed within my comfort zone, I wouldn't be as happy as I am here.

Going out-of-state can be scary, but if the college you want to go to is out of state why not go?