This prompt is a little harder for me because I was always away from home as a kid either because of sleepovers or camping trips. When I got to high school, I was always leaving for school trips to the mainland or other islands and one summer I left for a month to take classes in Michigan. But the first time I permanently left home was when I left for college.
My older brother picked me up from the airport and I was really tired but I didn't want him to be alone for the car trip, so I stayed up. We drove to the campus town which was an hour away and watched comedians on YouTube while we got there.
When we finally got to the local town, we drove around until we found a motel. We parked as close as we could to the room and took all of our stuff out in case car-jacking was a thing in the neighborhood. I remember being on my phone that night in bed and when he turned over on his own bed he said, "turn off your phone and go to bed."
I already said goodbye to dad, I remember thinking. I just turned down the brightness level. It didn't hit me that night.
We got up early the next morning and drove all my things to campus so I can finally move in my luggage. I walked in on my sleeping roommates at 9:30a.m. I felt bad for waking them.
My brother was extremely kind and took me to go shopping for things that couldn't fit in the luggage and I had to leave at home, like a printer, a lamp, all my school supplies, all my dorm and housing necessities, and that's not to mention the fully set up brand new laptop he gave me as a gift before. I'm really grateful for my brother.
We moved the rest of the things back in later that evening. I completely ditched all of the mandatory orientation meetings that day. He set up my printer and helped me do my bed, and then with some cash in my hand and an overwhelming hug, he left to start his 6-hour drive back home.
I was really nervous because I was really away from home. Just the morning before I said goodbye to best friend, my family, and my entire life. Just the morning before I had a fight with my mother that could've easily been one of the most regrettable moments of my life had she not been kind enough to forgive me. Just the morning before I thought I had everything figured out. The campus was pretty and the dorms seemed safe but it wasn't until that night when my roommates almost had me dying with laughter that I figured that everything was gonna be alright.
-E
