7 Years Ago...

7 years ago this week I left home for college, this week my younger sister heads off on this same adventure. Leaving home was one of the best things that I have ever done. Don’t misunderstand, I have wonderful parents, and they were just as great back in the day, but leaving home let me “spread my wings” and grow up in a way that staying at home never could.

When I left home I was sure I knew it all. I had everything from my major to my political affiliation figured out. I was ready to go out and change the world, at 18 I was naïve enough to think I had the knowledge and skills necessary to do this on my own. Somewhere along the way I took it down a notch (well maybe a smidge would be a better way to describe it). I learned to yell less and listen more, consider other opinions, and even on occasion admit that other people were right. I learned to deal with people I could have never imagined interacting with, I learned to share (although I think my brothers may have started that process), and I learned to take care of myself. While there were days when I thought that I would never graduate, days when I thought that I might have to strangle a roommate or two, and days that at the end I wasn’t sure I even wanted to be there, the experience was worth it and to be fair I survived. So the point of the post? To wish Em or should I say “Auntie Em” good luck this week. It is going to be a bit scary, you are probably going to run out of money at some point, and there will be days when you wish you were back at home with Mom and Dad, but in the end this is going to be a wonderful experience, you will learn so much, and someday when you look back on the experience (someday when your bank account has more than $5 in it) you will see how much you learned, and how worth it it was to eat pasta roni two meals a day for 4 years(because let’s face it breakfast is probably out the window).