My Summer Experience

   It's everyone's dream when they're younger to move as far away from their parents when they get old enough.  By older I mean when teenagers finally go to college.  When we're younger we think, "Oh I just can't wait to get away from my family, I want to go to college already!"  Now people might say this because they may think their parents embarrass them too much or they're just tired of all "the rules."  It could be for any number of other reasons too.  Well, I used to be one of those people.  I wanted to get out in the world and go to some hotshot college or university, and the only way to do that is by going to one that is fairly far away.
   Girls State 2013, in Vermillion, South Dakota.  I'm still in the butterfly phase of wanting to go far away to college.  After this experience, not so much... I was chosen with another girl from my school to represent my town in the 2013 South Dakota Girls State.  It was a week long experience on the campus of the University of South Dakota.  I had the whole college experience, right down to having a roommate, the extra long lines to take a shower, and all the walking to get from class to class.  I thought to myself before the trip, "This would be a great experience for me to have, to test whether or not I could stand being away from my family in college."  
   As you can imagine, by the second day I was already homesick!  I was thinking, "Why am I acting all weak. I haven't even been gone two days!"  Well I'll tell you what I learned from this experience.  From this trip, I was able to get my priorities straight.  I realized that it was more important to me to be close to family, than going to some hotshot college far away.  So I've decided that when I go to college, that I'm going to stay fairly close to my family, where I can see them at least every couple of days.