Moving On
Leaving home after high school graduation had always been the plan. It still is, and I am equally excited and terrified for the day I pack up the van and pull out of the driveway for the last time before I no longer live in the house I grew up in.
I was ready for the adventure. Ready to move to a place, basically unknown to me, and take in the sights and experiences of being somewhere new.
My parents supported me with everything they could, and that meant the world to me. They wanted me to be successful in whatever I chose to do, and took steps to ensure I was on the right path. It was something I would forever be grateful for, without having a way to truly express just how grateful I was.
While independence was something I craved, and anticipated, it was still unbelievably scary. High school taught me how to be independent in terms of learning, but that was a completely different thing to being independent in life.
I had tastes of independence as I grew up. Walking to school on my own in elementary school, getting my first job just before starting high school; milestones that at the time didn’t seem monumentally important, but looking back now have turned out to be important parts of my life.
The idea of having this life and this future always ahead of me was both daunting and motivating. I knew there was always something better coming up. The ‘better’ that I’ve been waiting seventeen years for has finally come and the unsureness is gone. I know I’ve made the right choice for myself, and for what is best for me to have a positive future — to keep the better times coming.
From the time I knew there was something after that horrendous first day of kindergarten, I knew I would be going to university. There was no other option for me. I would go through and graduate elementary school, and then I would do the same with high school.
I’ve done both now. I have succeeded thus far. It’s both a weird and awesome thing to feel proud of yourself. It’s different from the pride you feel when someone else is proud of you, and I think it’s just as (if not more) important.
There were several rites of passage I experienced; senior prom being the event that sticks out the most. It was the perfect way to celebrate making it. By then I knew I’d done it. It was an incredible night filled with memories I couldn’t possibly forget, with people that meant so much to the successes I accomplished during the years I spent with them.
The freedom that I have been eagerly waiting for is in my sights, and with it — my chance to really become the person I want to be, the person that makes me feel free.
I’ve been traveling through my life for almost eighteen years now, and I think it’s finally time I arrived at my next destination.
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