12 Hours on I-20

As a junior in high school, I weirdly hated doing college tours. I swear my parents dragged me from campus to campus and I couldn't find one I really loved. It was Christmas time and I was over in Florida visiting family. Much to my dismay, we drove all the way from Texas to Florida, just so we could do more college visits along the way. The University of Georgia had never been on my radar, and it was just another campus I knew I was being dragged to. However, as I walked down Clayton Street, ate at Last Resort, toured through North Campus, something clicked in me that I hadn't felt at any other school. Next thing I know, I'm in an information session, convincing myself that the 1 campus I love is way too hard of a school for me to get into. Needless to say, I applied anyway and the day I got into UGA is a day I'll never forget. 

Past all the excitement of getting accepted, of picking out bedding and dorm room decorations, of preparing packets and picking out outfits for sorority rush, I was terrified. Something that I wanted so badly had actually happened, and the move from Dallas, Texas to Athens, Georgia was staring me right in the face, and it was coming fast. I had never met my room mate, I knew approximately 3 people at UGA, and I had been on campus 1 time before making my decision. I was never one of those people who went to overnight camps every summer, I had never even flown on a plane by myself. There was a huge change ahead of me and I began to wonder if I had made an emotional decision before thinking through the scenario. 

It's funny now, as a senior, to think about how unsure I was. After all, the whole reason I wanted to go so far away from home was to brach out, do something different, meet some new people, and not follow every body from my high school to UT-Austin. So why on earth was I then terrified of the thing I wanted most? With just 8 months left in this perfect little city, I wish more than anything I was 18 again and making the decision all over again. Oh what I would give to be a freshman, living in Brumby and eating at Bolton again (LOL). I was so, so wrong to ever question my decision! 

I will always thank my dad for dragging me to Athens. I will always appreciate my 18 year old self for choosing to leave everything I knew behind and take a huge risk. I'm so glad I was wrong!!