Leaving The Nest

    This is the subject that has been floating around everyone my age's mind for the last few months. However, usually it's not an immediate worry for another year. I'm going to be a senior in high school next year, so this is the summer that's all about college visiting, thinking about applications, and coming to terms with the reality that you most likely will be leaving the comfort of your home and parents to stand on your own two feet. I just so happen to be lucky enough to get a little taste of this before I've even applied to a single university.
    Tomorrow I leave home behind for three weeks in order to explore the medical profession in a college setting. I'll be staying in a university dorm, eating the college food, going to lectures and labs from 9 in the morning to 3 in the afternoon. Three weeks on my own. Three weeks of no parents to answer to. Three weeks of making my own decisions and living my own life. While this is very exciting and I'm sure my pre-med program will be extraordinarily interesting and enlightening, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little scared.
    Some may say that three weeks is nothing. Lots of others my age go away for way longer than three weeks for summer camps, internships, and so on. However, I've never been away from my family for more than a week at a time, and even then, I was with my friends. This is the first time I'm going to be thrown into a completely new environment, not knowing anyone else, and hoping for the best. I'm glad I'm getting this experience now. This time, when my parents hug and kiss me goodbye and I feel a twinge of homesickness beginning to kick in, I'll be able to tell myself: "it's only for three weeks." Next time, it'll be at whatever college I decide to study at for my undergrad, and it won't be only for three weeks. It'll be for the year, and ultimately, the rest of my life.
    I'll miss my parents and sisters like crazy, but deep down, I know that this is good for me. New experiences, stepping outside my comfort zone, learning to be on my own, getting the roommate and dorm experience. I'm ready to embark on this adventure and have a wonderful time, but not without a few looks backward at the loving and comfortable home and family I'll be leaving behind.