Whenever I get there, I immediately feel a sense of relief. A sense of calmness. Whenever I get there, I'm usually at my calmest point in the entire day. When I'm there, all my stress just disappears. I'm finally at peace.
After a long day, I stumble back to my building. I climb several flights of stairs, that I seemingly keep forgetting are there. I feel my breath start to get shorter and shorter and then remind myself to go to the gym more often. A reminder that I will inevitably not follow through on in the future. As I finally see the too familiar door that leads to my home for the past two years, I start fishing around in my pockets, trying to remember where I put the key.
Turn. Click. Open. Walk a few feet and open again. I'm back. I'm here. I'm happy.
It's small, but I've grown attached to it over the past two years. I guess spending nearly eighteen hours a day, seven days a week, however many months out of the year there by myself makes it look like a five-star hotel room. It's why people get so attached to their childhood homes, their first apartments, and if they're like me, they get attached to their college dorm room.
I walk in, trying not to open the door too much, avoiding hitting my dresser. It was originally to the right of my door, but my mother and I decided to switch it with my drawers at the start of the year. Just in front of my dresser, I see my mini-fridge, the newest addition to my dorm room. It's also the reason my dresser and drawer had to be switched.
I turn on the light, seeing the slight flicker it has, making me nervous and reach for the switch again. I take my jacket off and hang it on a hook. Throw my backpack somewhere on the floor. Take a seat at my desk and start on the work that I'm supposed to be doing. Somehow I feel more relaxed doing this here than I would be doing this in the library or the classroom. I don't know why. I guess being surrounded by my things gives me a sense of home and a sense of comfort. Knowing that I have complete privacy: not having to worry about someone else walking in and feeling like they're silently judging me. Being able to write in pure silence, and being able to find inspiration.
Even though I'm states away from my actual home, I feel a sense of home in my dorm. I feel I can get away from the pressures of school when I walk in. All my stress melts away.