4 years.

4 years ago I was stepping out of my little Oldsmobile, Alero, 
staring completely wide-eyed at the run-down 7 story building that would be my new home.

To make it even more unreal than it already was in that moment,
my mom and I began unloading our cars of the things I had brought with me,
hauling them up the elevator to my room on the seventh floor.
We unpacked together for a while,
most of that time filled with my mom's buzzing words of excitement.
You are going to love it here, I just know it. 
You will have so much fun meeting lots of new people.

I was quiet mostly,
trying desperately to take it all in.
I didn't really want to admit it at the time but I was pretty terrified.

A million thoughts were racing through my head...
You chose this remember? 
You are strong enough for this. 
Every day will get a little easier. 
And you know what, it did.

The girl who stood alone in a cafeteria filled with hundreds of strangers,
The girl with tears streaming down her cheeks as she watched her mom pull away,
The girl who didn't quite feel like herself and was truly shy for the first time in her life,
I don't even know that girl anymore.

The truth is - my life changed here.
And for the first time, I began to discover who I was, on my own, completely independent from the comfortable life I was living at home.

I've learned some hard lessons...
That my big group of friends from high school who I thought I would remain close to forever, would all move away. We would slowly lose touch and they would simply become a fond memory from my past. A faded photograph that I think of from time to time but not very often anymore.
That it is important to do what you love no matter what anyone else says, even when it isn't the best paying career you could choose.

And some lessons that were unexpected...
That I would find love when I least expected it.
That I have a confidence among strangers that I never knew I had.
That I am strong and independent all on my own.

But most of all, I've learned who I truly am.
And I have these last 4 years to thank for that.