In high school, like many of my peers, I was eager to go somewhere far away for college. I didn't want to go to school in the city where I grew up, and even staying in the same state felt a little too close to home. I wanted to go to college and feel like I was independent and able to be my own person. And I got my wish: the school I chose put 2,000 miles between myself and basically everything I knew. While I love my school, it's hard to be so far away from home. Whether you're 1,000 or 6,000 miles away, there are definite struggles only college students who are far from home understand.
1. Missing the local food.
Texas has it's issues, but availability of Mexican food is not one of them.
2. Adjusting to new stores and chains.
What is a "Safeway"? Where is the HEB?
3. Feeling homesick when you see Instagram posts from home.
Look at these people… Enjoying my favorite place in the world… Without me.
4. Feeling jealous when college friends go home for the weekend.
5. Flights home are agonizingly long.
Even direct flights (a blessing from above) are exhausting, and the anticipation to get home is killer.
6. Time differences are basically the bane of your existence.
When your friends and/or family are hours ahead of you, times for prolonged conversations aren't easy to come by.
7. The playful mockery when you revert to your home lingo.
"Y'all" is a great term and everyone should embrace it. Y'all.
8. Finding someone else from your hometown is the best thing ever.
LOVE ME.
9. Trying to explain something about your state's culture to other people…
What's not to get? It's [oreos/butter/ice cream] that's been deep fried.
10. You discover a sense of loyalty to your state you didn't realize you could possess.
Nobody trash-talks my home state except me.
If you're lucky, though, you end up with two homes you're equally in love with, and distance makes the heart grow fonder for both.
