Four hours before Centre

It's 4:00 in the morning, and I'm still awake.

Hectic. Long. Stressful. Today has been all of these things and more. It was quite possibly one of the busiest days I've had all year. I didn't run, I procrastinated packing as long as I could. And now at 4 a.m., I couldn't tell you where all the time has gone; not only the day, but the last year of my life. Just this time last year I was looking at different colleges, putting off papers I had to write, and anticipating the day when I could walk off-stage at graduation and officially say I was a college freshman. Now that the time is here, I'm not so sure I'm ready.

When my brother left for Centre three years ago I remember saying "See you in three years, Nate". In the time since then, my mind never questioned Centre as the place for me. It felt like home the first time I stepped on campus, and I've been ready to come here ever since. Now that there are only four hours until I leave home and adopt Centre as my new home for the next four years, I don't know what to think. I can't wait to arrive on campus tomorrow, but at the same time I'm really scared. What will it be like actually living on campus instead of just visiting? What if I can't keep up with the school work? How hard will it be to make friends? These things usually don't bother me, but right now I'm literally losing sleep over them.

Centre will be a big change. I don't deal with change especially well. But I know it will be for the best. Although I'm very nervous, I'm also very excited and anxious to arrive on campus tomorrow. I know the whole 2.5 hours of driving will turn into an 'are-we-there-yet' kind of feeling that 5-year-olds experience on their first vacation. But hey, even though I'm heading off to college, I figure I can still be a kid every once in a while, so it's okay, right? Needless to say, I'm excited, I'm scared out of my mind, I'm very sleepy, and now while writing these paragraphs I've decided I'm definitely ready. In four hours I'm leaving for Centre, and I can't wait.