As August is coming to a close, all I can think about is how many young people are getting ready to move out of their home for the last seventeen/eighteen years to move to the college of their choosing. I remember when I was in their shoes four years ago, packing up the car with all of my life possessions, turning the car into a jigsaw puzzle trying to fit all of my school supplies and shoes and books. Every new year that went by, we still wonder how we fit all of my things because I could never comprehend the idea of down-sizing.
But as summer is ending and this new chapter in your life is starting, things are going to become a whirlwind of emotions and that's okay. It;'s harder than you think to comprehend leaving your home, leaving your friends and family behind. I remember when I left my small town in Connecticut for an even smaller town called Farmington, Maine to start my degree in Creative Writing, I was both terrified and excited. I was terrified because I had never left home for more than a week before, let alone leave the state for any longer than that. I was so close to my parents and two older brothers that I couldn't even imagine how I would feel when I left home. It was hard enough getting through the process of applying to colleges and getting in to then have to leave home and manage living on your own.
When the day came and my family and I pulled up to the place I would call home for the next four years, I was filled with excitement and was relieved to see how many other people were in the same boat as me - not only having a car filled to the brim with their things, but also going through the millions of emotions of being excited to then also being terrible sadden by leaving your family behind. Or really, having your family leave you behind in a brand new place. I'll never forget watching my parents drive away on that very first day - my heart broke in two pieces and I was on the verge of crying the whole day. And all of my enhanced emotions only got worse as the day grew to night. I remember Skyping my parents and they could see it on my face that I was trying to keep it together. And once my mother told me to let go, to let it out and cry, I never thought I would stop.
But it got easier. Once classes started and I had something to do with my day other than miss my parents and organize my room, missing my parents and missing my home grew easier. And once I made it through my first month of college and I could finally see my parents during a long weekend, I never thought my excitement to see them (or the tears) would stop.
Moving away from home is exciting. Being independent for the first time in your life can become addicting, so much so that some people never want to go back. But every year that I went back to school, I never stopped missing my family. They're the ones who help you along the way and have gotten you to where you are and that's something that needs to be appreciated.
Living somewhere new, especially in a different state far from home can be scary. College itself is scary as it is. But it does get easier. Once you find your group of friends, once you find that club or organization or work at that job that is just perfect for you, everything else falls into place. It will take time for some people to adjust to living away from home - some people it could be a lot easier. But my only advice would be to never forget where you came from and don't forget to thank the people who helped you get to where you are now!
