I had always dreamed about packing up and going far, far away for college, leaving everything behind. I wanted to start fresh by going to a big school, in a big town where I knew no one; I wanted to get the full college experience. But as time went on, this dream started to become unreal in my mind. It didn’t become fictitious because I wasn't able to fulfill the dream, but because I didn’t want to. For me, my full college experience consists of staying close to home where I'm comfortable. But why did my dream change and why did I choose to stay home for college?

1. Money

I don’t have to explain the rising cost of college tuition. This is especially costly if you go out of state. Yes, some neighboring states may only charge you in-state tuition, but not all will. I see students blowing their (or their parents’) money away by going out of state and failing due to the unlimited freedom. I would most likely have enough self-control not to do so, but I didn’t want to take that risk. Even without failing classes, I can assure that you will spend more money to go away. I cannot stress enough how important it is to save as much money as possible in college to reduce student loan amounts later on. Some students are sort of oblivious to exactly how much money they are racking up, and will regret it when it comes time to pay it off. With staying local, I also commute, which saves me much money because of how costly dorms are. I realized that I would rather have less to pay for later in life, so money was a big decision maker for me. It just seemed more logical to me to choose what saves more money.

2. Family

After having losses, I want to keep the ones I love as close to me as possible. It would be great to get away for a while by going away for school because I believe it can make you more independent, but I didn’t want to miss out on seeing my family. I see students complaining about being home-sick and how they miss family events and such, and I didn’t want that to be me. I am close with my family and want to be able to see them when I want to, not just when I can. People always say that you shouldn’t let relationships with others hold you back from something that you want to do, but that wasn’t the case for me. What I had originally wanted wasn’t what I wanted anymore, but part of that did root from my desire to see my family and friends.

3. Convenience

Yes, the lazy side of me comes out in this one. It was so much easier going to college already knowing how to get there and what’s around. It really reduced the stress of having to start all over in a new, unfamiliar town. My first day was stress-free (besides dealing with traffic) because I was already comfortable in my surroundings. It was convenient for me to stay close to home so that I wouldn’t have to get used to anything being all that different. All I had to do was find my classes. I don’t have to worry about how to get to the nearest store from campus or anywhere else because I already knew how.

4. Offers

When I had been accepted to schools close to home, I got relatively good scholarships. This was tempting for me to accept because I was happy with the offers I had received. It just made staying home easier for me to want to do. The offers that I received influenced me to accept the new dream I had of staying home, and to drop the imaginary one of going away.

5. Job opportunities

When you go to school locally, you have a better chance at getting a local job. As a student in the healthcare field, I will be doing internships and clinicals at locations here in my hometown, rather than wherever I would have gone for college. These places will see me do hands-on things before I even apply for a job, and will already have an impression of me and an idea of what I’m like. They would be more likely to give me a job over someone who they had never met before, due to an already established relationship. I had originally planned to go away for school, and come back to my hometown for life after college. Finding a job will be tremendously easier now that I have chosen to stay home, which knowing that beforehand persuaded me to do so.