Hardly Normal

If you don't know who I am, and maybe even if you do, here's a little bit about me and about my blog. My name is Elizabeth Miller. I'm currently an incoming sophomore at Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois (hence the name of my blog). My home, where I was born and raised, is in San Marcos, California, though I spent all of my grade and secondary schooling all over San Diego. Last fall 2015, during my first semester of college, I found a new home, one that I chose to make mine.

Around this time last year, in the midst of one of my favorite summers, I was driving down the coast with one of my best friends, Paige. As we looked out at the dark waves and the lights of the city stretched out in front of us, I turned down the music and said to Paige, who had lived in San Diego for almost as long as I had and who was also going to be making the move to the great Midwest, "Isn't it weird how our parents are the ones who made this city for us? They raised us here, and helped us create memories here, and in a little while, we're going to have to do that for ourselves. Make our own memories, leave our own marks, find our own place."

I remember sitting in silence for a moment, taking in the weight of that realization, the challenge ahead of us. We were about to step into two new and separate worlds, both trying to keep our ties with where we had come from while still establishing who we were becoming.

My first year in Normal was anything but. It was also the best year of my life. When I walked on its campus for the first time in October of 2014, I knew Illinois State was the right college for me, the dream college I didn't know I had. I never thought it'd become my favorite place in the world, my new home, and my sanctuary, somewhere I can be unapologetically who I am.

This past year I have met some of the greatest people ever, many who I know will be by my side for the rest of my life; I have learned things about myself and the world, things that I could never have imagined at this time last year; I have started a journey into the rest of my life that I am so excited and optimistic for.

If you're interested in coming along for the ride, I'll be tracking that journey here. I hope you enjoy it as much as I know I will.