That's how far apart my best friend and I are going to be next year. I can't tell you how many times I've googled "Villanova to Rutgers New Brunswick" hoping the route would magically get shorter. Sometimes, if traffic's not too bad, I get it down to one hour and seven minutes.
For the entirety of senior year, I've only been focused on graduating. I've been waiting to go to college since I was eight years old. That's a post for another time, though. After I submitted all of my college applications (and 8 scholarship essays I wrote the day before), I started counting down to graduation.
It's in six days. I really don't know where the time went. I went out nearly every weekend, and now I'm wishing I had more. That excitement I had for college is now turning into longing for more time with my high school friends. I feel like everyone talks about this when they graduate, but you don't really understand until you experience it.
One hour and nine minutes. My other best friend is two hours and two minutes away.
One hour and nine minutes. I can't just walk into her art class whenever I want to anymore.
Two hours and two minutes. After August, we can't go out for late-night drives after getting (questionably named) ice cream.
I'm starting to sound like someone who peaked in high school, so let me pull it back in. I'm excited for college; I've worked hard to get where I am. As move-in day moves closer, however, I find myself less concerned about the perfect halogen lamp for my dorm and more concerned about leaving behind the small-town life I so ironically wanted to flee from earlier.
There's a certain comfort high school life gave me, a comfort that I (and many others, I'm sure) took for granted. I have a strong sense of belonging at Villanova, but I wish I could have that belonging and all the love from back home.
What do they say about having your cake and eating it, again?