Alexis Pfeifer

When I went to college, I wish I had known how hard it would be to leave home and adjust to the college lifestyle.

By the end of their senior year in high school, most students are ready to go on, possibly to college, to begin a new adventure. Growing up in a smaller town, some students want to get as far away from home as possible.

Some students flee to Florida, Montana and even other countries for school, thinking the farther away from home and rules, the better.

The first few months can prove to be the most difficult when students travel away from home.

Rash decisions to move far away can be regretted if the school doesn't fit a student's needs. Sometimes, it takes a few weeks to get adjusted or to discover the school is not right.

Schools don't stress this enough. If it is not working out, transferring is always an option.

Moving away from home, regardless of how far, gives students a chance to get away from the rules and curfew that parents have set for at-home teens.

Free of parents' oversight, college freshmen go to school looking forward to the friendships they will establish and the unforgettable memories they will make. Advisors, teachers and parents say how much fun college will be.

But adjusting to the college lifestyle proves to be more difficult.

It is easy to get stressed out in the new environment with more school work, social activities and chores. Moving out on your own also means more responsibilities.

During the initial months, feeling overwhelmed is to be expected. It is important to understand that every other college freshman feels overwhelmed too.

Whether school is an hour away from home or states away, moving out is one of the biggest adjustments to get used to as a college freshman.

This experience makes students grow up because freshmen have to become their own mothers upon arrival at school. New college students have to take responsibility to clean, do laundry and maybe cook for themselves.

More than that, part of moving out means taking responsibility for classes and work. Even though skipping class is always an option, it might not always be the best option. Mom won't be there to say “no.”

While college is a time to start over, some students think it is a time to do everything they were not allowed to do at home.

Late-night parties may seem inviting to freshmen, but following the college's rules is more important than losing scholarships or risking expulsion. It may be necessary for students still to follow some parents' rules they are out on their own.

At times, figuring out the college lifestyle may seem like a lonely event, but 18 years of building relationships at home have given incoming freshmen experience in making friends. Even though it is a time to start over, it is more important to find yourself in the journey.

College can be a time to feel depressed about moving out or a time to make the best of new friendships and opportunities.

While it may take time to discover happiness in the new lifestyle, college can be the best experience of a person's life.

Remember, it's a natural occurrence to miss home, but in time, dealing with the separation becomes easier.

Alexis Pfeifer, who graduated from Mars High School in 2010, will be a junior at Kent State University in Ohio this fall. She was a news intern at the Butler Eagle this summer.