For about the past 18 years, I've been living with all the comforts of living at home with parents. Though they gave me various responsibilities and duties of being "grown-up", I was still very dependent on what they provided for me.

This weekend marked one of the most important transitions in my life desipite being only another weekend at first glance.

A few weeks ago, I spoke with my mother's cousin in Shorashim, a kibbutz in the Kineret. She, along with the rest of her family, wanted to see me. I arranged to see them on one of my free weekends and she gave me directions on how to get there.

Flash forward to a few days before I'm supposed to leave. My ear starts hurting around midday. I had a cold a few days before and my guess is ear infection. I went to the clinic on my own, and got antibiotics (it was an infection) on my own.

Now, I needed to get to Akko where I would be picked up. I got to the central bus station, and bought my own ticket to Tel Aviv. Once in Tel Aviv, I walked to the train station and found out that the trains weren't going to Akko, but they were stopping in Kiryat Motzkin. Despite that fact, I bought a ticket anyway and arranged to be picked up there.

I had a wonderful Shabbat on Shorashim with the Picus family, and came back on the 280 to Jerusalem.

I planned this trip on my own, without my parents. I took care of my own transportation to unfamiliar places, with my own money, and made sure I had a good weekend in the process. To any other person, this may seem like a normal thing, but to a newly independent college student in a foreign country, it is much bigger. Never before have I really felt so...independent.

I concluded the weekend today with the simple act of getting a haircut, which is normaly arranged by my parents. I did it on my own, without any knowledge of nearby places. With the conclusion of this weekend, one simple truth has come to light: I am now living a college life.