Studying out of state is many things. It’s daunting, exhilarating and terrifying. It opens the world to you, but ends elements of your life that you thought were interminable.

It changes the way you interact with people. It changes the way you define home. And it changes the way you define yourself.

About a week ago, I took all of my possessions out of my Tuscaloosa apartment and either left them in a storage unit or crammed them into my car. Then I began a two-day, 11-hour drive home. This is something I do every summer.

I come from Bexley, an affluent suburb of the capitol city of Columbus, Ohio. Bexley is overwhelmingly liberal, overwhelmingly white and some two square miles in area. It’s one of the most quintessentially Northern places I’ve ever set foot in.

From that, it should be obvious that Bexley’s immensely different from Tuscaloosa. Everything from the food to the dress to conversational etiquette changes when I make the trip from campus to home, or vice versa.

Bexey’s food is more varied, but doesn’t taste as good on the whole. Bexley residents are ruder, but sometimes they’re also more forthcoming. In Bexley, soft drinks are “pop,” and “y’all” is simply not something that is said.

The impact of these differences on me is immense. Every moment I’m in Tuscaloosa, I learn not necessarily about my major, although that is certainly hoped for, but about a different cultural way of life. Sometimes it’s immensely difficult to adjust – mainly in the handling of disputes. Bexley residents address with unflinching, uncomfortable directness. Sometimes that leads to conflict.

I try, though, to view setbacks within the context of a cultural education. An accidental breach of decorum, an ill-considered choice of words, a joke that falls depressingly flat – these things are discouraging, but as in any learning situation, they’re sometimes unavoidable. I’ve found that it’s best to view each incident as an opportunity to become better acquainted with Tuscaloosa’s culture.

Again, this can be difficult. But in the end, I almost feel bad for students who study in the same place they grew up in, surrounded by the same people.

Studying at The University of Alabama has given me the chance to acclimate myself to an entirely new way of thinking and a new way of living. It’s challenged me as a person, forced me to learn new skills and made me more adaptable and open-minded. It’s forced me to grow in ways that I didn’t even realize I needed to.

Coming home for the summer is simultaneously wonderful and heartbreaking. I’m ecstatic to be near my friends and family whom I sometimes haven’t seen in months. But I’m also reminded of the fact that studying out of state has cost me the chance to see them easily and frequently.

If I had gone to an Ohioan school, it probably would have been easier. I probably would have felt more at home from the start, acclimated more quickly and spent more time visiting my family. But I also would never have developed an appreciation for the South, its food, its music or its traditions. I wouldn’t be as aware of cultures or worldviews other than my own.

The thing about studying someplace far from where you grew up is that it uproots you, but the process of laying down new roots broadens who you are. It’s daunting, but it betters you. And I think the University’s ongoing policy of heavy out-of-state recruitment is utterly fantastic for this reason.

Obviously it’s not for everyone, but for those who try it and succeed, it’s a uniquely enriching experience. It’s a kind of education that you simply can’t buy.

Nathan James is a junior majoring in public relations.