Is university life right for me?

I submitted my housing contract for University of California, Santa Barbara this week, which means that this is really happening. I am really on my way to an entirely new life. Am I ready?

I haven't even bought my community college graduation pictures, yet I'm signing a contract to live with complete strangers in a new city. Is this really what I want?

Do I really want to travel to a new place for another degree? It's going to be hard. It's going to be different. It's going to be a change. Is it worth it?

Yes. Yes, I want it. I want the struggle. I want the difficulty. I want it all.

It will be worth it in the end. How many people actually make it this far? I won't be a quitter, so I am going to appreciate this change for all it's worth.

Things in life that are worth something are hard to obtain, but with perseverance, anyone can do anything.

I want to make the most of this, since I blew it in high school. I wasn't always the best kid.

I ditched a lot of classes. I partied instead of studied with some of the wrong people. I met some good people while I was there, but nobody that I still hang out with today.

My mom found out that on the Friday before my senior finals I ditched school, picked up my check from Carl's Jr., and went to my buddy's house to hang out.

She wasn't going to have that, so she called my dad to pick me up. They both showed up at to take me home, or so I thought. She was furious.

She had my bag packed and said she couldn't handle me anymore. Her and my dad split sometime in 2000, so she thought it'd be a good idea to send me to his house to live. That was not going down.

At the time, I wasn't on the best terms with my dad, but that's another story for another day. Everything is all good now. I just thought at the time, 'If you couldn't handle living with him, why would you send me?'

I asked, begged and pleaded for him to take me home, so I could finish my finals and graduate. No. He lived in San Diego. My school was in Riverside.

I called my boyfriend to pick me up; I had a little bit of money left over from my check and was willing to pay anyone gas money to come get me. He dropped what he was doing and came.

I never made it school to finish those finals. My mom called me threatening that the cops would be there to get me when I showed up. I knew she was the cops, so I just skipped over Riverside and moved myself into my boyfriend's sister's house in Los Angeles.

I was on my own with no family beside me to help my transition into adulthood. I was 18 years and one month old. I promised myself I'd do it. I promised myself I wouldn't give up. I promised to pursue my passions, which lead me back to the educational system.

I worked on my diploma during the fall and started my first college semester spring 2009.

It's taken me longer than expected, but I'm doing it. Receiving the acceptance letter from UCSB was a dream come true.

I didn't think I was good enough. I didn't think I could ever be a university student at a big four-year. I never thought it was in my cards.

But it was. It is. I have to at least try. What harm can come from trying?

I made it this far. I am going to Santa Barbara in the fall.