Part of senior year is constantly struggling with wondering what college life will be like for them. It’s hard to imagine what you will be like in a new environment, with new people, and a newfound sense of freedom. Every high school student longs to move onto college and to finally be that college freshman that they’ve been imagining for so long now.

As senior year moves forward and people delve further into the college application process, it comes time for students to visit schools that interest them. I’m lucky because my sister attends San Diego State University (go Aztecs!), one of the schools that happens to land on my list. A few weeks ago it was “Family Weekend” at SDSU so my parents and I embarked on the measly three-hour car ride down California to the campus.

Upon arriving at my sister’s house only a few blocks from the campus I instantly knew this atmosphere was different from those that I am used to. We drove around trying to find a place to grab a late lunch and passed countless shops and restaurants tailor fit the students at that school. All the small “Mom-and-Pop” shops were so inviting and cute that I wanted to look inside of each one.

After my parents returned to their hotel for the night, I was left with my sister and her roommates in the house that the seven of them share. Even though not all of her roommates were in town while I was there, the four that were there were so kind and never treated me like I was less than them because I was still in high school (life is rough). They acted as if I was another college student, one of them even did my make-up! As my sister and I embarked on our night out, we encountered so many friendly people. Walking around campus random people would stop to compliment us and engage in conversation, these simple acts of kindness kept a smile plastered on my face for the entirety of the night.

On both Friday and Saturday night it was normal for people's’ evenings to begin around 11 p.m. whereas back home people’s nights would be winding down around that time. Leaving a party in the wee hours of the morning did not mean an empty wasteland at all, there were people everywhere! It might as well have been a normal afternoon of classes for the amount of people wandering about. This made me feel so safe because I didn’t feel the need to constantly check over my shoulder or even walk a little quicker on the way to our next location. The people at every party I attended were so outgoing and never too shy to dance along with me, even with my outlandish moves.

Nevertheless, when it was time for my family and I to depart on Sunday, after attending a quick open house at my sister’s sorority house, I was envious to say the least. In addition to just spending time at a sorority house, a future dream I plan on joining in on, I had just experienced a small taste of what I hope the next four years of my life will look like. Aside from SDSU climbing much higher on my list of potential colleges for me, my desire to move on from high school to my future grew exponentially.