Dear friends back home:

First, I miss you. I miss you a lot and I think about you all the time. I hope you’re having all the adventures in college that I am having. Starting off freshman year has been rough, I miss home and making new friends is overwhelming. Classes are crazy and I don’t know where half of the buildings are. I wish that I had a familiar face to reassure me whenever I get sad, lonely or confused.

With all that being said, I love it here. Chico State is amazing. The people are so friendly and they all just want to make friends and have fun. My classes, even though they’re much more difficult than high school, are interesting and motivate me to do better. They’re not like any classes I’ve taken before.

I do miss home a lot. I think about my family, my pets and my friends like you all the time. It’s such a weird place, college, because I’m having the time of my life, but I also feel like a piece of me is missing, like I left a part of myself in my hometown, with people like you. I really hope you don’t miss me too much. I know that you must be feeling similar to me.

Did you know that Chico State is second rated in the nation for sending students abroad? I didn’t know that, but it’s true. I think I want to go to Paris, or maybe Germany sometime in the next couple years. Maybe if we coordinate, you can come with me.

Chico also has an award-winning newspaper. We didn’t even have a newspaper in high school, maybe I’ll join that as well.

The campus is beautiful, there are so many trees. It’s no wonder that our school is so environmentally conscious and sustainable. They are also top-rated in this area and have a lot of recognition and awards as well. It makes me proud to be Wildcat.

The sports here are so fun to watch. I have some friends on the soccer team, and the track team seems like they’re unbeatable! The gym is so fancy, and they have a rock climbing wall. It’s nothing like back home.

I know what you’re thinking, “what about the parties?” I’ve already heard so many people comment on how Chico State is a party school, but honestly, all I can say is that going out on the weekends is just another way to meet all the amazing people in this community. We dance, we laugh and I make a lot of friends. I wouldn’t say that going out on the weekends is limiting my college experience, I feel like it’s enhancing it by exposing me to a great, friendly group of people who will be with me until I graduate. What about your school, isn’t it a party school as well?

Best,

– A Wildcat

Kendall George can be reached at [email protected] or @kendallmgeorge on Twitter.