It's Official: I'm Leaving Long Island

It’s official. Like, officially official.

If you follow me on social media, you might know my past year has been filled with test prep and exams and scores and essays and resumes and lots and lots and lots of waiting. And, if you follow me on social media, you might also know that all that work has finally come to a crux. I’ve been accepted to law school!

This news comes with a lot of emotions- excitement, of course, but also a bit of fear and uncertainty and more than a twinge of anxiety. The school that I’ve chosen, that I’m absolutely honored to have been admitted to, is…well, not on Long Island. It’s rather far from the island, in fact. It’s nestled in the panhandle of Florida. And so, for the first time in my twenty-five years, I’m leaving the comfortable nest of my parents’ home and venturing out on my own. Cue more emotions- excitement, fear, anxiety, repeat.

This kind of move is a change I’ve been wanting to make for a while. I’m ready for it, even if it scares me. But I still feel a little sad at the thought of leaving the place that raised me.

It’s not just the fear of losing familiarity with the land around me. It’s the knowledge that Long Island is a part of me. It’s in the way I speak, and the way I don’t. It’s in the way I carry myself. It’s inspired my work. It’s taught me to respect my environment and the creatures I share it with. It’s introduced me to people and places that have shaped and changed my life in countless ways. Long Island is my home, and I think that it always will be, no matter where I live.

I knew from the start that if I was going to move away, I wanted to document the process. I know that these next few months will be a frenzy. There’s packing to do, an apartment to lease, lots of back-and-forth traveling, goodbyes (rather, see-you-laters) to be said. In between all of that, there’s a lot of room to miss moments, and I don’t want to miss a single thing.

I suppose, then, that this is the start. I’ll be blogging about the move here, as well as doing a little photo diary on Instagram and Twitter using the hashtag #LexLeavesLongIsland.

I invite you come on this journey with me, if you’d like to. It’s probably going to be a little weird and quite emotional, but I’m excited to embark on this next chapter of my life and to bring you all along for the ride.