I remember the day I was accepted into Florida State University all too clearly. Excitement, happiness, sadness, anxiety, and stress all mushed together to form an emotion I had no idea existed. I felt everything and anything all at once. I was finally graduating high school and opening up a new chapter of my life: college. We all know why we go to college, that’s easy. We go because we want an education, we think we can find a better job with any type of degree (whether it be an associates, bachelors, masters, etc.) College students, starting off as 18 year-old freshmen, drown in thousands and thousands of student debt and loans just to be able to earn a higher education for their futures. But, we do it because we can’t wait to jumpstart our lives in one of the top universities in the state of Florida. We drown in thousands of loans because we love what we do, and we couldn’t imagine not doing it.

Now that I’m finally here, a slumped sophomore surviving FSU a year and a half later, I couldn’t be more proud of myself for moving and switching my whole life around. Words can’t describe how much I miss my parents, grandparents, my brother, and my family, but I know that moving away was the best decision both for my future and for myself as a person. Before I moved away, I didn’t 100% know myself. I didn’t know how to adult (I think we can all relate to that tbh). I didn’t know how to cook, I barely had the knowledge to do my own laundry, and I was babied around my house 24/7. I couldn’t picture myself in 10 years and what I wanted to do for the rest of my life, I didn’t know myself mentally, or even emotionally. Now that I’ve been living on my own for more than a year, I finally discovered my passions, what I love and don’t love, what makes me happy, and that freshman 15 is real if you don’t properly take care of yourself. FSU has helped me break out of my shell in the most amazing and inspiring ways, in ways I never would have pictured myself doing if I stayed in the same place and environment back at home. I met amazing people that I never would have met if I had not taken the chance with Florida State and struggled with the thousands of other 19-year old college students. I have learned to be more independent and responsible, because we all know what it feels like to be stuck writing a 10-page paper the night before it’s due. I have met a diversity of people with different opinions, aspirations, and life stories all in the same place, striving for a higher education and a better future.

Yes, I miss my mom and my stepdad and my grandparents with all my heart. I miss the sarcastic yet caring comments of my brother back at home playing Xbox on the couch. I miss my friends that I made in high school who went their own paths and are starting their own lives in a completely different manner. But, I thank past-me for working so hard and diligently in high school to be able to earn an acceptance letter to Florida State University. I couldn’t be happier with the decision I made to move away and start fresh. Because although I struggle, I’m broke half the time, I cook and eat mostly the same foods everyday- I wouldn’t trade this experience for the world. I’m so excited for the rest of my time here at Florida State and the many opportunities (and hurdles) that have yet to be thrown my way.

I bleed garnet & gold, and I couldn’t be more proud.