The world around us is vast and continues to grow as we step out and explore it. Despite where we may travel and how far the distance, we always have that one place called home. For me, home has always been here in Louisiana. Within a family of four, I’m the only one who was born and raised here in the South whereas my parents and older brother was born and raised (briefly raised for my brother) in the North. For as long as I can remember, Shreveport-Bossier City has been my home and place of origin. It’s where I learned to become “me”. Due to my travels around the country, I learned to appreciate my home even more. During a particular summer, we traveled throughout the regions of the East Coast, Northeast and further Southeast in order to start over and begin anew. During each place we visited, it didn’t feel right. Not just because I didn’t have my friends around but it was something about the atmosphere within each location that failed to resonate with me. It felt distant, stifling and too uncomfortable for words. Even with some of the relatives that were present during a few of those visits, it just didn’t feel like home for me. Upon my return to Bossier City, the feeling of the perfect homecoming overwhelmed me to the point of tears. I felt that warmth presence that I had missed during my travels and it served as a reminder to never take for granted what I had. As the years passed, my perception on what “home” was seemed to change a little. While I still loved my hometown, I felt that home was starting to be much more than just where you were born. It also started to seem that while the people I grew up seemed to be a main incentive for me to stick around, the reality of the matter became clear: In order for me to attain what I want in life, they would have to be left behind. Not so much as to stop talking to them, but rather I would have to get used to not seeing them on a daily basis whenever I relocated to a different setting. My perception of home became more of where I see my foundation as I reach certain pinnacles of my development into adulthood. When I dove further into college and moved out for the first time, I felt my new home was the “home” that I was accustomed to. When I had to move back with the folks, it was still that very same “home” despite the setback that I had in life. Perhaps it was necessary for me to take that step back in order to learn from the mistakes that led to that determent and move even further when I decide to step back out. I feel that once I establish that new foundation, whether it’s a new house or a new state, I feel that I cansafely call that place………home.