In high school we could hardly wait to graduate and go to college. Escaping our parent’s nagging, the annoying siblings and living freely were the only things on our minds.

But, little did we know, staying true to ourselves would be a difficult task.

Humans have a natural tendency to forget their past when they begin doing well for themselves.

In the same way, students tend to forget where they come from when they go to college.

During our first semester, it probably didn’t take long for us to get used to the new lifestyle.

We had instant freedom to choose who we hung out with, what we ate and how late we stayed out. Freedoms we may not have had when we were at home.

In the process, some of us get caught up in trying to prove ourselves to people who barely even know us.

For example, there are students who don’t want their friends to know that they come from a nice neighborhood or family, so they try to hang out with people who have an opposite background.

They try so hard to fit in with these people who probably couldn’t care less.

Without even noticing, students lose their identities as they chase a life they don’t have a clue about.

Meanwhile they slowly separate themselves from the people, place and things that made them who they were before they got to college.

By the time they return home for break, things are worse than before they left.

They have gotten so used to their poorly structured lives at school that it’s hard for them to function at home. The brother or sister seems to become more annoying, and the parents seem to become more irrational.

When teenagers are so eager to leave behind the lives they consider to make them miserable, it’s easy for them to forget what matters most.

We fail to see that the things we think are making us miserable are the things that make us who we are.

The little brother or sister that we claim to hate with a passion is really our best friend, and the parents we claim are making our life hard are actually our best counselors.

If we fail to come to this realization, we will end up learning it the hard way.

Truthfully, not all students have been fortunate enough to have parents or siblings, but that shouldn’t be a reason to hate where you come from.

There’s nothing people love more than a good life story: A person who had nothing, lived on food stamps and worked their way to the top.

This success story is common, yet it also attracts those who are eager to be successful.

Though this is a common desire, it is more common for people to forget where they come from once their present becomes better than their past.

While some start from the bottom, there are others who have been fortunate to start at a better place in their life.

Students should be careful not to look down on the life they’ve had prior to college.

Whether good or bad, they should use it to their advantage to add to their uniqueness.