During my college application process I knew that I wanted to go out-of-state so that I could experience a different atmosphere, but at the same time I didn’t want to be in a geographical area totally different from my sunny Southern California roots. When I decided to attend Florida State for college for some reason it never occurred to me that I would be living over 2,000 miles away from home. Over the past three years I’ve gotten the hang of living in Tally, but there are still a few things that I don’t think I’ll ever get over. So, if you’re California girl like me who made the cross-country trek for college I’m sure you’ll relate.
After going through your fair share of two or three layovers you finally arrive in the capital of Florida: Tallahassee, expecting to see high rise building and streets bustling with politicians only to realize that Tally has way more trees than you imagined.
Exiting the jetway of the Tallahassee Airport anxiously expecting to have to fight for a cab to campus or find your luggage. Then you notice that there are only six terminals and TLH seems like the size of a matchbox compared to LAX.
Walking around campus in Vans with Nike socks and for the first time learning that monogrammed everything, Lily Pulitzer, “Chubbies” and wearing hunting camouflage were casually are a thing.
The typical “name, major and hometown” introductions with students are always a bit awkward because you usually get the “Wait, so why did you come ALL the way over here for college?”
Getting bombarded with questions like, “Wait, so do you live on the beach?” “Have you been to Beverly Hills?” “OMG do you see celebrities everyday?”
To which my answers are more than likely “no, yes and sometimes.” Though us Cali natives don’t see them everyday, it’s not entirely uncommon to see one or two celebs in Santa Monica or Malibu. Although, the time I saw Kim Kardashian in a nail salon in Beverly Hills is always a great conversation starter.
Going to the club and hearing the music of South Florida is always so fun, except when the DJ only calls out Floridian area codes in the crowd. Then you’re left alone and secretly hoping someone will shout out to the out-of-state students.
Or spending another weekend alone, stuffing your face with ice cream and watching reruns on Netflix because your roommate is going home for the 10th time already and she wants her mom to do her laundry.
Sometimes when you are having a conversation with friends and one pipes up whining about having to skip Friday’s class to make that long eight-hour journey home to SoFlo for the weekend, even though you only go home for Christmas.
That time you called your mom the morning before a big exam at 8am only to realize she isn’t even awake yet because of the massive time difference.
Waiting to get care packages that your parents sent you about two weeks ago.
For some reason you never considered the Florida the South so when people ask you “Do you hunt?” you assume hunting for sales in outlet malls, only to realize that they do really mean hunting animals.
Not understanding where the humid air is coming from or why it rains randomly in a place called the “Sunshine State.”
But then you go to your first FSU vs. UF football game and it vaguely reminds you of the fierce USC/UCLA rivalry and you instantly feel at home.
And then you remind yourself that your cross country college experience has you helped you become independent and you’ve met some awesome people all while appreciating the uniqueness of the South. You regret nothing.
(Although in your heart you know that everything that’s best is in the west.)