In a few short months, I will pack up my life in the small town of Midlothian, TX into my small white Nissan Versa. The place in which I have lived my entire life, gone to the same schools, and known about everyone in my town. I will move to the wonderful and beautiful Nacogdoches where I will begin my new life as a college freshman, and I have never been more ready to start my new life. 

My lifetime in my small hometown has been both amazing and terribly boring. I have worked at the same job for over two years. To do anything fun you have to go to nearby towns, and the people are generally the same. Some people would say that Nacogdoches is not much better than here. While that is true, the point is, it is not here. It is somewhere new. There are so many new opportunities for me, so much to explore, and so many new people. 

High school has been some of the loneliest times in my life. I have had a few close friends here and there, but generally, I never had someone that made leaving feel so bad. I have only ever really had fun in limited classes, and lunches have been even lonelier over the years. But, graduation is days away and that is overwhelmingly exciting. Some people would say that I will miss it and wish I could go back. I will miss living so close to the friends I do have, and walking the school halls to the welcoming smiles of my favorite teachers. I will for sure miss living down the hall from my stubborn siblings, and my greatest best friend, my mom. Ultimately my newspaper class will be what I miss the most in school. I have met some of the greatest people there and shared so many crazy and memorable conversations. It is also a safe place where I can be myself. 

Of course, I will miss it but I know I can always come back to it. I am not moving across the country, but I am only a couple of hours away. I have never been so ready to graduate and leave here. It is a bittersweet moment, but I am ready for my future to start. I am ready for this new chapter and ready to shut this one. The new chapter of my life is calling my name. The thought of meeting new friends, seeing new places, and living on my own excites me extremely. 

I am ready to start my future and my career path. I am getting to take classes that will start my degree, and actually focus on my future. I am able to finally be myself and find myself. No one knows me and I can fully be myself without caring what others think. We are all starting our adult lives and everyone is finding themselves, and I love the idea of that. I have already started making friends and talking to new people and found a girl who is so much like me. My roommate and I have become so close, and I know that the fear of living with someone new has vanished. 

In a few short months, I get to call the Piney woods of Nacogdoches and Stephen F. Austin State University my home. While I am leaving behind a lot that I will for sure miss, I am finally able to start a new chapter in my life. I am facing change and new beginnings and I have never been more excited to leave my hometown.