When coming to college I was nervous, I wondered how I would find new friends and whether or not Temple would even be a good fit for me. I wondered if I would miss out on anything back in the county, since I was leaving all my closest friends behind (only a couple of us actually moved for college). After about a month of school, I went back home to see my friends and family. I told them all about my first few weeks in college, how I was adjusting to the city, the new friends I had found, how dorm living was, etc. My friend Ryan, who goes to Delaware County Community College, told me how life had gotten worse for him since I left. He felt as if he was stuck in life almost, going to the same places we did back in high school, seeing the same few people, and working the same job. My friend Evan, who’s house we’d always hangout at, agreed with him. Evan’s situation was worse, he had dropped out of high school, never gotten his license or a job, and had just found out that his parents were separating and they had to sell the house he grew up in. Not to mention that both of his parents are unemployed and have alcohol problems.

After I got back to school I was kind of relieved, because I felt as if I was moving on to better things, rather than stuck. During winter break, I almost began to pity them. A couple of other friends in the group had dropped out of community college, and Ryan lost his job at Wawa. To this day, they’re still doing the same things, stuck in the same town, with not much going for them. This is what made me realize that change is necessary because it leads to growth and adaptation. The whole time I was worrying about how I would get used to college they were worrying about how empty life was back home, and that to me is a lot worse.