Home Away From Home

You're in high school.  You're graduating this year and weighing your potential options for next year.  You know one thing for sure - you want to leave home.  The thought of being free from your parents' supervision and rules is exciting.  You're swaying towards that acceptance letter from the university a few hours away from home.

But...

Are you ready to move away from home?

You really have to think about this before deciding because if you're not ready than it can completely ruin your university experience.  You don't want to end up living on your own, and then being anxious to visit home every possible weekend that you can.  I know people that have done this... people who weren't ready to move away from home... and it inevitably interfered with their university experience.  Let me tell you one thing right now:  The more you go home, the more you want to go home.  And that can not only interfere with your university experience, but also your grades.  

Mount Allison is my home away from home, and it's very seldom that I travel the ten hour bus ride home.  It's been this way since first year.  I, definitely, was ready to move away from home after graduating high school.  The years after high school are the best years of your life

 and you shouldn't dread them.  You should want to be away.  You should want to actively participate in your home away from home. 

Sometimes we end up in ruts and we want to travel home to be in a comfortable place surrounded by our family.  I've been in this boat before too.  Last year, I traveled home a lot for various reasons because I was in that rut.  I was anything but motivated.  However, the more I traveled home, the less connected I felt to my home at university... and the less I wanted to get back on track.  Sometimes it's easier to hide at home, but I'm here to tell you (since I've been on both side of the fence) that the best thing you can do is not to hide.  The more you hide the less likely you want to be found.

If you come to Mount Allison, you don't want it to be just a place where you come for an education.  Don't hesitate to really settle in and make it your home.  Learn to love it and be comfortable within it.  There's so much more to do than just go to classes.  Use the weekends, instead of traveling hours on the road to go home, to explore Sackville - your town away from your town.  There's so much to be seen and to be done.  Do not hide.  The more you hide, the less likely you want to be found.