Maybe, instead of “safety”, I should have used the word freedom. Instead of “privacy”, I should have said independence. While similar, these words have very different implications.
In Iowa, I was not free. I was under the mercy of my parents, and I was constantly terrified of them disapproving of the choices I made. Everyone in the community had expectations of who I was supposed to be and how I was supposed to act. I was also not independent, no matter how hard I tried to be. My parents were still the ones that made the final decisions. These facts could reasonably be a large part of why I felt trapped in Iowa. I had the mind and spirit of an adult, but was living under the reign of my parents. As soon as I moved out, I was free and independent. I could live my life without fear of repercussions or punishments. I could express myself in any manner I chose, and had no expectations to live up to. I was the one who made the decisions on what to eat, what to do, and how late to stay out. It was the first time that I didn’t feel stress in everyday life, because there was no one to worry about impressing. A certain relief fell over me last semester as I embraced these new feelings of freedom and independence. The relief even carried over into the holidays, when I returned to Iowa. The house I grew up in no longer terrified me, since I knew that somewhere out there was a place I could