If you are a high school student looking for colleges, or someone who is thinking about a big move, you’ve stumbled across the right post. I’m in my second year at the University of Virginia, and I am from New York. I went from a big city to a small city, and from the North to the South.
I honestly knew before looking at colleges that I wanted to go to school out of state. It was a dream of mine to explore a new place and create a new life for myself.
You choose your people and your environment
When you live at home, you have to adhere to all the rules of what your parents and whatever authority watches over you. But growing up, you start to make your own decisions about how you would like to spend your time and how you’d like to spend it. When you move to a new place, you can rebuild new habits and a routine that works in your favor.
It’s crazy to think a year ago I knew no one here to having a community on Grounds that is so big that it surprises me. Making friends is hard, but it is worth trying to find the right people that best fit into who you want to be and how you want to grow.
In terms of a routine, I get up at 7 every day. I have breakfast every morning. I do my quiet times. I journal at night. My room is perfectly decorated, and I love having a huge desk where I get to work and blog!
You become financially responsible
Going out of state for college or even a big cross country move is hard on your bank account. If you really want to move, you have to prepare yourself to be responsible financially. Get a summer job. Sell some books you don’t read anymore. Do what you can to be stress free in terms of money.
I worked every summer after 11th grade and saved up for the move. I also worked doing the school year to start paying off my loan. You really begin to negotiate what you need and what you want to spend money on. For me, that meant that I started going to the thrift store. I have so many nice tops from the thrift store – it’s good for the environment and my wallet.
Make a budget. Figure out where you’re moving to. Try to cut costs. Be as frugal as possible without harming yourself.
You explore the world
Moving to Virginia, I thought I was going to get to explore Charlottesville – seeing this city that I was supposed to call home. Little did I know, that I get to go to North Carolina, and see the nature all around Virginia – in Troy, Goshen, Southwest Virginia, Richmond. I still have a lot of Charlottesville to explore, but it feels like the world is my oyster.
Make it a mission to explore. Grab some friends and get away for a weekend. Take the bus around your new city. Get used to a different way of life. The best part is seeing how people live differently, and so the way you move in the world changes too.
You appreciate home differently
Going home becomes a privilege, and you start to see it more objectively. New York City is busy and loud, but it also has the best public transportation system in the country. Every home has its ups and downs. That goes for people too. While parents and siblings can be annoying, they’re also familiar and caring – even if it means bothering us.
If you want to look at your hometown a different way, leaving it is the best way to do that. All the things that used to make you happy will have you come alive again, and the things that irk you won’t seem so big anymore.
You get to make a new home
Moving away is like building a new house. It’s a process that’s frustrating, long, but rewarding. My first semester was the loneliest time of my life. Now I walk around Grounds, and I feel a sense of community at how many friends I see all around me.
Go meet people. Find your favorite coffee spot. Pick a place in the library that’s your study spot. Make your new living space a home, where you can always feel love.
Signing off,
Gigi
Have you moved recently? Where have you moved and why?
