PrinceAlbert

So some of you may be panicking right about now, about moving away from home for the first time. I don't exactly know your reasons for moving, and I'm sure mine are a bit different but I can tell you a little bit about my year, if you like you don't have to read it.

I went to a school where I just got really sick of the culture there and the fact that it's so small. It's pretty cool when you're growing up and you know everyone, but then I kind of realised that it's pretty weird that everyone is friends with everyone else. Which I don't think should actually happen. But that's just me, and it's quite a strange example. But I'm sure you understand if you're from a small place.

I guess I just wanted some anonymity? Before last year, I don't think I'd met anyone completely new, that I didn't have 50 mutual friends with, for a very long time. It's a really nice change to go to a new place, and meet new people, and not have them already know half of your life story already because they're best friends with your sisters boyfriend or something.
It's just different to be able to go out and do new things with new people, and for them to get to know you just from what you do with them, and not have any second opinions. I guess I felt kind of trapped, because everyone knows who you are, what you're like and where you fit in. I can't wake up in the morning and start talking to a group of new people because they'd say "wait, I know you, you should be talking to those people over there". I don't even know if that's a feasible situation, but it's how I felt anyway.

So really this year was probably the best thing I've done for me. I changed a lot, and kind of figured out who I am just because I didn't have people pressuring me to be something that I was based on my past. In fact up until about three months before uni ended I wasn't sure if I should be doing Medicine, or if I wanted to be doing it, but I was 100% sold on the idea that moving away from home was what I wanted to do. And it feels so good to have a clean slate, and make a name for yourself from scratch. Which is something I guarantee people in small towns haven't done for the last ten years.

I suppose the question that comes from all that is are you happy here? Do you want a change? I'm sure you love all your friends to death, and I love my mates too and it is great to come back and see them, but nothing will change. I can walk back into a mate's house after being away from 8 months and it's like we're in year 12 again.
It is expensive, and it took me a very long time to convince my parents that it's what I wanted to do, and I still feel guilty every time I get on the plane to go back to Melbourne, but there's no way that I'm going home any time soon.

So that got kind of deep and almost new agey. I don't know if it helps at all, but hopefully you get some value out of it. It's fine to be scared, one girl made her mum drive around the block three times before she got out of her car on move in day and she already knew like 10 people at the hall. It's not something we have to do very often, start again, but it's the most fun I've had for a long time. And I guess it does come down to the question, do you want change? I certainly did, but a lot of people don't, and that's fine too.