As my friends have started moving into their dorms, and I'm coming close to my move in date, I've come to realize a few things. High school went by a LOT faster than I thought it would. It felt like just yesterday that I was signing up for senior year classes and dreading the fact that I had one more year until I graduated. Now, here I am, two weeks until I move into my college dorm, and I'm thinking, where did the time go?

One of the things that is really hitting me hard these past couple of weeks is all the goodbyes I'm having to say. Having my high school best friends either stay in state or go to school hundreds of miles away, it seems like it will be hard to keep in touch, but distance ain't got nothing on my friendships. Being the last one to move into my dorm out of my friend group has me seeing all my friends enjoying their new, independent lives, and it's making me wonder how my life will be when I finally get to move in.

The hardest goodbyes by far will be my family. Being around them for 18 years, and being so familiar with the area I grew up in, it will definitely be a struggle the first couple of weeks that I'm away. I think the one thing I have to remember is that I'm not moving away forever, and that finally becoming independent will be an amazing thing. You can go out whenever you want, and stay out late, and it'll be something new, (as long as you're staying out of trouble).

Another weird concept I'm having to grasp is having a roommate. Now, being a girl, I have a lot of not only clothing, but other personal items as well. I've grown up having my own room, and somehow managing to stuff everything in there. I know I can't take everything with me to college, but figuring out what I want to/can take is a struggle. You have to have the right amount of comfy clothes, but also the right amount of cute clothes, and then figuring out how you're gonna manage to bring everything else up too. I think having a roommate will teach me a lot about living with someone else though, and also a lot on space management, (I need to learn that concept). So shoutout to my first roommate for having to deal with me and all the clothes I'm bringing, (Sorry Chey).

Another concept I'm seeing is to stop caring so much about appearance. I feel like in high school, I tried to look good, mostly because there were cliques. You were either smokin' hot and in the "popular" group, or you were a nobody. I'm realizing that people in college don't really care about appearance. If I stay up until 4AM writing a paper, I'm going to look like I woke up from my grave the next day in class, sorry not sorry.

So as college move-in approaches, I'm beyond excited to start a new chapter in my life, and see where it takes me. I'm excited to see what I learn about the college experience from even my first semester, and what I learn about myself. I cannot wait to make new friends and continue with old friendships. Bring it on, college.