Like many other students who go to FSU, I am not originally from Tallahassee. In fact, I live basically the farthest from Tallahassee as possible while still staying in Florida. To be specific, I’m from a city in South Florida called Boca Raton which is about 30 minutes north of Fort Lauderdale. The drive from Tallahassee to Boca is roughly seven long hours and takes up pretty much a whole day. Living 450 miles from home definitively has its pros and cons.
Pro: Entirely new scenery
Tallahassee and Boca are very different, to say the least. In Boca I can drive ten minutes and get to the beach where as in Tallahassee the closest beach is an hour+ away. Even the weather in Tallahassee is entirely different than in Boca. Tallahassee actually experiences seasons whereas in Boca if a single leaf falls from a tree it’s considered fall.
Con: You never go home and your family NEVER visits…
Courtesy: Giphy
The first weekend of fall without a football game comes around and all my friends go home because they live two hours from Tallahassee but I unfortunately live 450 miles away. For some this may be a good thing and at first I thought it would be cool to live so far from home to where my parents can’t come check on me whenever they want, but after a while I realized that I never got to see my family ever. It’s understandable that my family never visits because it’s a 14-hour drive in total, but when all your friends parents visit for parents weekend, you always feel a little left out.
Pro: Going home for Spring Break and Winter Break is like a vacation
Courtesy: Tampa Bay Times
Winter in most places besides South Florida is relatively cold but in Boca, I can go to the beach year round, so while everybody else is huddled around a fire trying to keep warm, I can lay out on the beach and go in the pool. Even for Spring Break a lot of places are still in the 60s but not in Boca. In fact, I can drive 45 minutes to Miami and be in the perfect Spring Break spot. How many people can say they live where everybody else vacations?
Con: The dreaded seven hour drive…
Courtesy: Game of Nerds
Some people really like being in the car for long periods of time because it gives them a chance to read, do homework, and just spend some time thinking, but that luxury is taken away when you are the one having to drive. As a Freshman, a lot of people I knew didn’t have cars so we could carpool and I wouldn’t have to drive alone, but now, as a Sophomore, everybody has a car, so the carpools have turned into caravanning and stopping at the same rest stops along the way.
Despite there being a few cons to going to school so far from home, you grow to love FSU and make it your home away from home, and even though you may be super far from your family, they’re always just a phone call away and a “short” drive to visit.