  I've been getting a lot of advice about going away, as I'm sure everyone who has ever gone to college did before they left.
I don't really mind it. I know that everyone means well, even though I seem to have heard it all before. It's kind of funny how I know what's going on, even though I've never been through this before. But I've been getting more nervous about college lately.
I'm fine with classes and moving away, but it's coming back that I'm afraid of. Everyone has been telling me that college is this big change, and I'm fine with most changes, but there is this looming idea that I am going to change. I don't want that. Surprising as it may sound coming from a teenage girl, I really like who I am. I'm comfortable and confident in myself, I like the decisions I've made and the people I surround myself with.
I don't want to go to college and have that all change. I don't want to come back over Christmas vacation having alienated myself from all of my old friends. I don't want to be egotistical about all of my new college experiences and make them feel naive because they haven't seen what I've seen. I don't want to start viewing people in terms of whether they're in college or still in high school, or look down on them because they're young. I want to make new friends, but I don't want to forget anyone. But then again, if I am as confident in myself as I know I am, I won't do stupid stuff like that.
I've also been getting a shitload of horror stories about New Orleans. My dad's boss relayed a story onto me about his girlfriend. Basically, there's the southern Mafia down there, who don't take kindly to anyone too outspoken. There have been reports of them paying off bartenders, and upon a mobsters signal, the barkeep will roofie a girls drink. This is what happened to my boss's girlfriend, and she and her friend ended up being taken on a boat ride with the mob guy, and held out in the bayou for three days.
Also, having just bought a Bad Religion shirt, complete with a "NO" sign over the cross, I don't really know how I'm going to do. Basically, if you're ever with me in New Orleans, don't let me go to a bar alone. 
