Sometimes when I look back a few years, it's terrifying that I never expected my life to be the way it is today. It's terrifying that my original plans have now turned into different plans and that those plans haven't stayed consistent since the day I came to college. What I'm realizing, though, is that plans need to evolve as we get older, or we will never become the people we are supposed to be.

Before becoming a full-time college student, the plan was to go to school out of state. I had plans to start a new life for myself someplace where no one would know my name; no one would know my story. I wanted and needed a fresh start. As I began searching for colleges out of state, I fell in love with the idea of each school that wasn't anywhere near my hometown. But I couldn't get myself to fall in love with the schools themselves, and I certainly couldn't fall in love with the person I was trying to be that I simply was not.

So, my plans changed. I fell in love with a university 45 minutes from my house, as much as I had originally been against the idea. Because of this change, I found a new life with amazing people I would have never met otherwise, along with the perfect balance of being just close enough to home and just far enough away. My plans changed and I found my home away from home.

Freshman year of college, I was dead set on studying abroad my junior year. If anyone would have tried to convince me otherwise, I had my arguments ready. I saw this opportunity as a once in a lifetime opportunity that I would have despised myself for not taking advantage of. A week ago, I signed a 12 month lease on campus with a group of my friends. Goodbye studying abroad. After building the relationships that I have here, I couldn't possibly leave for a whole semester. My plans changed, but I know I won't regret it. I get to live out the rest of my college career with my favorite people, and there is no way I would have been happy without them while abroad. I had to do what was best for myself. It was a scary decision, but the right one.

If you had asked me three years ago what I thought my life would be like my sophomore year of college, my answer would not match my life as it is today. It's scary to think about, and even worse that I have no idea where I will be in another three years. As someone who hates being unprepared and always feels the need to plan every little detail, the unknown future is and always will be nerve-racking.

No matter how many plans we make, it's never truly certain what our outcomes will be. But because my plans have not gone as planned, I am happier than I would have otherwise been. Remember to trust the system and to always leave room for change because everything happens for a reason and you could end up happier than you ever planned you would be.