The First To Go
As a Connecticut native, I was used to long summers stretching from late May until the start of school in September, so it was a shock when I realized I would be starting my freshman year at the University of Georgia in early August. As my friends and I prepared for our next chapters at different colleges across the United States, I felt an immense amount of pressure. I would be the first one to leave my high school friend group.
Coming from a 400-student boarding school in New England, attending the University of Georgia was both intimidating and exciting. While I loved the tight-knit community of my small school, I longed for a college with more opportunity, spirit, and a diverse range of people to learn from. My path to Georgia was not typical. I had few people I knew that went there and a limited amount of knowledge about the school – I had grown up over 800 miles away from Athens, GA in Connecticut.
I knew UGA would be like nothing I had ever experienced, and that's what fascinated me the most.
While I was eager and excited for my college journey, I also felt apprehensive. I felt a certain amount of pressure knowing that I would be the first one to go through the process out of all my friends from home. I wanted to make everything look easy as to reassure all my friends that the transition to a new environment would be a piece of cake. I put up this facade for a while prior to attending school, telling my friends how excited I was, but in reality and behind closed doors, my stomach churned for what was to come.
Often, I felt isolated and alone in this anxiety. It appeared that everyone else in my situation was full of excitement while I was full of nerves. It wasn’t until later on in my freshman year that I realized many of my friends and peers had experienced a similar level of uneasiness about coming to college. Because UGA is one of the first universities to go back to school in the fall, others were in situations similar to mine as they were the first to leave their high school friend groups and embark on a new journey.
Although I initially felt alone in my anxiety about coming to school, especially being the first one in my high school friend group to leave, I now realize that I was not alone in that uncertainty. The start of a new journey can be anxiety-inducing. And despite what people’s Instagram feeds or TikToks portray, the odds are that more people than you think are experiencing similar feelings. Getting cold feet about something you were excited about months earlier is not uncommon nor is it something to be ashamed or embarrassed about. It can be challenging to be vulnerable and admit to friends, peers, or family members that you are struggling or having doubts or worries especially when it feels like no one else is sharing these emotions.
Remember that these feelings of unease or uncertainty often accompany the decisions that push us outside of our comfort zones and allow us to grow. Even though it can be daunting, it is important to commit to choices and opportunities that enrich our lives and allow us, or sometimes force us, to meet new people, have new experiences, and learn more about the world and people around us.