When people talk about the excitement of college and the ups and downs, something they frequently forget to mention is what it’s like being an out of state student. Especially at a school like UNCO where it’s mostly in-state students who spend their weekends going home to their family and friends. It can feel lonely as a student with a seven-hour commute home, and now that I’m in my second year at UNCO, I feel properly qualified to share my experience as an out of state student.
Last year, I made the seven-hour move from my hometown in Utah to North Hall in Greeley, Colorado. I knew it would be hard moving, but I didn’t know exactly what I was putting myself up against by being completely alone in a new state with no family or friends to lean on. I felt like I was building my life and identity from scratch again, all while trying to figure out if I was still the same girl from Utah. The girl who considered herself an introvert, who didn’t particularly enjoy coffee, and who swore up and down that she would never “go out” in college. I had to figure everything out again, and I thought it was impossible. I can now confidently say it’s not. It’s just really freaking scary.Â
On my first day at UNCO, I attended my first marching band rehearsal, and the section leader went around the room asking what towns people were from, clearly expecting everybody to be from Colorado. He went around the room, and the responses were what you’d expect: Greeley, the Springs, Fort Collins. Then they got to me, “Utah”. Everybody looked at me like I was crazy.
When the holidays rolled around, everybody complained about their drives home, but I was facing Denver International Airport with holiday traffic. Everyone else could complain about missing their family and just….go home (not something I exactly had the luxury to do). It felt isolating. I was counting down the days to Christmas break, when I could finally leave Greeley and go back home.Â
I hated treating Greeley like somewhere I’d only be temporarily before going back to Utah. So, logically, I started trying to meet people, to make friends and actually create a life here. Luckily, I stumbled upon a member of the marching band who skied like me. Suddenly, there seemed to be a solution to my problems: if I couldn’t go home, I could go see Colorado for what it is. So, this random person from the marching band and I went skiing in November. And that’s the story of how I met my best friend.Â
I finally started clawing my way out of the shell I had created for myself. I actually started hanging out with people from my degree program. I went to my first college party and bonded with people who have since become my favorite people on the planet. I made friends with someone who would (definitely not) skip class and go do homework at the coffee shop down the block from the music building with me.Â
All of these people I became friends with were the start of a life I began building for myself. That I’m still building for myself. I spent my first semester pretending that Greeley was temporary, that I could just force myself through four years of college and then go back to what I was familiar with. I’d have missed the entire point of college. I was afraid to “replace” my life back in Utah, the life I left for a reason. I didn’t understand that building a life here didn’t mean replacing whatever I had back in my home state. It just meant that I would have two places I could consider home. How lucky I am that that became true.
And yes, I found myself surprised over the summer when I realized I missed Greeley. Not the town, but the people in it. The people that started as strangers who have become my family.
Am I the same girl I was when I moved to Colorado? Not even close. I’m an extrovert who loves going out with friends. I find myself looking forward to an iced caramel latte at the local coffee shop with my classmates and friends. But, there will always be a little bit of Utah in me, in the way I consider the Wasatch mountains better than the Front Range. I put a little bit of coffee creamer in my sodas when I miss home. You won’t catch me dead cheering for any NHL team other than the Utah Mammoths. I’m not a Colorado girl, but I’m not completely a Utah girl anymore. I’m some mix of both of them, all because I made the scary decision to move out of state.