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5 Reasons To Go To College Out Of State

go to school out of state

Going away to college is scary. Whether you are moving away for the first time or you are headed back for your senior year, there is still an unsettling sense of unknowing and mystery. This feeling is multiplied when you are about to spend months miles away from everything you’ve ever known. But honestly, the best thing you could ever do for yourself is go to school out of state.

1. You Don’t Know Anybody

It may sound frightening, but trust, it’s amazing. Leave all of those townies from your high school behind and pick your friends based off of common interests instead of proximity. You’ll stay close with the handful of people that you are really friends with, and the rest can lick your taint. JK. Kind of. You get dropped off in a place with thousands of people your age who are all just as excited as you are to be away from their parents and trying something new. Making friends is as easy as when you were on the playground. Except now this playground has alcohol.

2. Nobody Knows You

One of the biggest clichés of college is that you have a “clean slate” when you show up, but it’s ultimately true. You don’t have to stay in the same niche that you did in high school. If you were a jock, you can try taking drama classes. If you were shy and introverted, you can rush. Show me someone who “didn’t change” in college, and I’ll show you someone who didn’t mature. Now is the time to figure out your personal brand and become the best version of yourself.

3. You’ll Have Friends All Over The Country

If you went to school out of state, chances are you won’t be the only one. You will meet people who are from thousands of miles away, and just a few miles from your hometown. College is the perfect time to connect with people from all over the country. Then, if you get the opportunity, you can visit these friends, and you can bring them home to your town and show them around. Seeing your own town through the eyes of a visitor gives it a whole new life.

4. No Awkward Run-ins In Your Hometown

The hardest thing to do at the end of the school year is leave your school friends behind, knowing it will be at least months until you see them again. But you also get to leave behind those annoying classmates and old hookups that you can’t wait to never see again. Unlike in high school, you can go to any establishment with your hair in a rat’s nest with full confidence that you will not have to have awkward small talk with that bitch from your rival chapter who always seems to one-up you in one way or another. All high school exes are fair game though.

5. You’ll Have A Second Home

Cue the cheesy music. Everyone saw this coming, but it had to be included. That warm, fuzzy feeling you get when you are home will be the same warm, fuzzy feeling you get when you pull up to your school’s campus. You can even start to feel homesick for school over the summer. You have years of memories in that special place, just as you have at home. You can walk around campus and think about all the people you’ve met and all the buildings you’ve peed on when you were drunk. This place will always have a special spot in your heart.

There’s no place like college.

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Ali Hin

A born and raised Jersey girl, she can always be found covered in sand and pizza sauce. Her personal brand is "that girl." She prefers wine in bottles because she thinks outside of the box. Send fan mail to [email protected] or by smoke signal.

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