Starting College

Until I get married, this will be THE biggest change in my life. I have never had to deal with real change; we've never moved to a new town, my parents have never gotten divorced, and everything has pretty much always been the same for me. But how am I supposed to just pack up my whole life now and go start over? For a lot of kids my age, this seems like a dream come true. But I'm not starving for independence and whatnot. I leave in four days, and it's about now that it's all starting to hit me. And let me add, my university isn't even that far away from where I live, so my family will be able to actually visit sometimes! I think it's something deep inside me that resists change and wants things to stay the same. How do people all deal with this? Saying goodbye to everyone all at the same time and getting thrown into a place with nothing but strangers?! I'm sure in a week from now, that question will be answered, but for exactly right now, I'm freaking out! I don't want to leave this tiny room I've lived in all 18 years. I don't want to constantly think about everyone I miss. But maybe I'm speaking too soon. Maybe the development of new things makes it natural to be able to (sort of) let go of the past and move on. And I'm just meaning making new friends and getting over homesickness. I was in France away from my family for just three weeks and it almost killed me. Absence really does make the heart grow fonder. These might all be preemptive statements, but I just think if we told kids during their senior year, "only another seven months of this, and then everything changes," I wonder if they'd try harder to make the most of the time left, because I'm pretty sure I didn't. And now, putting everything I care about into boxes and shoving out is happening soon and I don't know whether to run full speed ahead or pray for God to freeze time for a moment. One last conversation with my pals. The trauma will most likely be all over soon, but for now, I'm both intimidated and hesitant. How in the world do people all do this?