By  Emmy Boyd

Dear Class of 2012:
It’s hard to believe I’ve been in college for a full semester, and I can’t help but think about what transitions I’ve been through. To say my life has changed would be an understatement.

I may have blamed it on seasonal depression and lack of sun (Missouri is quite a switch from Florida in that department), but I was extremely homesick for most of my first semester. Moving 1,600 miles away and not knowing anyone — in the entire state — was no easy feat, that’s for sure.

After some lackluster performances on a couple of tests, losing touch with many of my friends from high school and breaking up with my high school boyfriend, I was ready to pack my bags and head back into the sunshine. I even completed most of USF’s transfer application.

Luckily, I have become very good friends with a senior in my sorority who is a graduate of Clearwater Central Catholic, who is very good at listening to me vent and reassuring me that coming to Mizzou was the best choice I could have made.

In my times of struggle, we would sit on the floor of her apartment, do homework and try to remind ourselves why we are exposing our thin-blooded bodies to the snow and sleet.

Now that I have been home for a month I realize just how much I love Mizzou, and how ready I am to go back to classes (yes, I just said that; classes are fun when you can take what you want), my friends and my newspaper, the Maneater.

The best advice I can give to anyone going to school out of state who might be worried about homesickness is that it will pass. If your gut tells you that you are at the school you’re meant to go to, chances are your gut is correct. Just get involved in as many campus activities as you can, and don’t forget the reason you went there to begin with. As my father has always told me, you can always come home, and that’s a comfort, but it’s worth even the misery of homesickness to give your adventure a try.

One last thing. Enjoy the last few days of free laundry. There was one time I had to pay $10 just to do two loads.

Emmy Boyd, a University of Missouri freshman, graduated from Wharton High in 2011 and is a former editor of tb-two*.