As someone who was constantly jumping from state to state as a child, I hated moving. To be entirely honest, I despised every aspect about it. I was always a sensitive person, and leaving the attachments I spent so much time creating was always something I struggled with. That's why, as a junior in high school, college-related decisions were so stressful for me. I knew there was so much more out in the real world, but I craved the familiarity I never really had as a child with the friends I made in high school. Being surrounded by people who did not really express any desire to leave home and explore the world didn't help me much either. After nine times of being dragged around, I felt that I finally found my place with the people I met in high school, and leaving was the last thing I wanted to do.

During my college search, I applied to more colleges out of my state than in my state, but I did everything in my power to ensure that I got into the most rigorous, prestigious college in my state. I was positive I'd make it in... until I got deferred. To say that I was heartbroken would be an understatement. My next best options were all nearby, but still fairly far from my home. Despite feeling absolutely devastated, I decided to attend the University of South Florida. It is a seven-hour drive away from my hometown, but close enough that I could visit home at least once a month. This wasn't the ideal choice for me, but at the time, it was the best I had. So I took the opportunity. That August, I moved 495 miles away from my home to begin a new life as a college student.

At first, I was miserably lonely. I never left my dorm unless I had class or had to go to the library to study. I FaceTimed and texted only my friends from back at home. I did everything in my power to prevent losing their presence in my life. Now that I look back upon it, I think drifting apart from most of my friends was inevitable. I slowly began forging new friendships in college and moving past the repetitiveness in my past that I had confused with familiarity. I began living less in the past and more in the present. I realized that to most of the people I called "friends" back at home, I was dispensable. Many of them did not even make an effort to talk to me once I left them even though I felt that I could not function without their physical presence in my life. Honestly speaking, I was shaken and very upset about it. I felt like one of the most important parts of my past had abandoned me. But every day here, I realize how much I outgrew my old friends and understand that if I did stay in state, I would have felt stuck in the same environment for the rest of my life. Moving out of state for college helped me experience so many new things like living alone, exhibiting independence, managing my own time, and budgeting myself. I'm sure I would have depended so much more on other people if I stayed back at home for college.

I couldn't be more thankful for making the fateful decision of committing to my university about a year ago. Exposing myself to different experiences, situations, and people helped me grow as a person in a way I know I could not have if I went to a college in state with the same people I had spent all four years of high school with. I am still shocked at how much I have changed since I came here, and ever since I became aware of the positive impacts that moving out of state has had on me, I never looked back.