I grew up and went to school just outside of Cedar Rapids Iowa. I chose to go out of state for college and it was one of the best decisions I have made. Moving two states away was not an easy transition for me but it was one that I needed. I have always been a shy person, and one of the reasons I wanted to go to school so far away from home was to force myself out of my comfort zone. Coming to school and taking part in a varsity sport was extremely beneficial because it gave me a group of people right away to meet and do things with on campus. The main thing I learned from moving so far from home was to be self sufficient, if I had a problem driving home for the weekend was not an option for me so I would have to find a way to solve it myself.
One of the drawbacks, of living far away and being on the varsity swim team was often my breaks would get cut short in order to return to school in order to train. The last four years most of the time I spent with my family was during the summer. I don't think it was a bad thing I didn't see my family as much as others, because it taught me to cherish the time I did get to spend with them. If I lived close to home and could come home every weekend I don't know if I would appreciate what they are to me as much as I do now.
I think moving away from home for a period of time is a good thing for anyone to do. Moving away allows you to experience an entirely new group of people and if I had to make the decision to move away from home again I would in a heartbeat. Going to a school in a different state allowed me to meet people and make friends from places I would never have imagined while I was growing up.
The most difficult part of living far away is the long drives to and from school all alone. The drives have taught me a lot of patience but I will admit there are times where I am just ready to get to my destination. My worst drive home was for thanksgiving break, there was a huge snowstorm over almost the entire area I was travelling and it took me over 13 hours to finally make it home at 2 a.m. exhausted. There are times when the long drive is nice, especially after a stressful finals week, it gives you some time to be alone and reset. Moving to a different state for college was one of the best decisions I made and I would not change it for the world.
I honestly did not know you were from another state. I guess I just assume college is like high school and you go somewhere close to where you live so I think everyone that goes to ONU is from Ohio. I think it's an awesome experience to be able to step out of your comfort zone in anything that you do and coming to college would be a big one because you now live at school and spend most of your time there.
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