Niche

Since this is my first blog EVER, I figured I should start off by explaining the title. I didn't just randomly name my blog 'Niche' because I simply thought it was a cool word. I guess I should start from the beginning...

My freshman year of college was going to be the greatest...or at least that's what I thought. I went off away from home, not too far, but just far enough. I left everything behind-my high school friends, my family, and my boyfriend of almost 2 years at the time. I thought it would be good to get a fresh start and to become more independent. For the first semester, I had a lot of fun; I missed home, but I met some interesting people, and someone who is now my best friend. When she decided to transfer after that first semester, my college life just slowly went downhill from there. Not that it was her fault or anything-I just honestly had no idea where to go. I missed home terribly, I had hardly any good friends, and I missed my boyfriend and was tired of never seeing him or any of my other friends from home.

I was miserable for quite some time. I tried hiding it from everyone, but my true friends could see the change in my personality. When I finally gathered up the courage to tell my parents that I was unhappy, I was actually surprised at how they handled the situation. They too, had seen a change in me, and were glad I had confided in them. I told them I wanted to look around at more colleges, particuarly one closer to home. My dad seemed at first to be more understanding than my mom. Now that I look back, I know that that's only because my mom wanted me to truly be happy, and not to feel like I had settled. She didn't want me to rush into a decision, just to regret it for the rest of my life.

To make a long story short, I ended up coming back home. I go to school just down the road from my home, but I still live on campus. People ask why I would be willing to pay that much extra to live there, when I could easily commute from home. My answer to this was simple. I wanted to still be independent from from home, but still live close enough to come back if I ever needed to.

Webster's Dictionary describes a niche as a place, employment, status, or activity for which a person or thing is best fitted. That's the way I felt when I finally decided to come back home. When I made that leap of faith to transfer schools, I had no idea what I was getting myself into, but I wouldn't change it for the world. I feel that this is truly my niche, as is writing. That's why I labled my blog 'niche.' I feel that just as I found my niche as far as colleges, that writing has truly always been my niche. It's helped me get through some of the toughest situations in my life. Writing is the only outlet that truly lets me express my feelings-writing bears no judgement, it's simply there & allows me to be myself, which is a rare thing...