College changed a lot of aspects of my life; it changed everything from my friends to my lifestyle and everything in between. However, what changed the most for me is my concept of home. The dictionary definition of home is “the place where one lives permanently, especially as a member of a family or household.” I used to see home in the same way; however, home to me is no longer one specific house in one specific town where my family resides. As a college student, I have come to call two places “home” my hometown and my college town. Home is the day-to-day events that I experience and the feeling of comfort I have in each of these places.
Home is waking up to my mother’s voice telling me "Good morning." Home is playing the same card game for hours with my family. Home is a sausage breakfast bagel from Bagel Boy. Home is my family losing at trivia night week after week but continuing to go anyway. Home is watching nine Gossip Girl episodes in a row with my sister. Home is homemade banana bread for breakfast. Home is my dad’s home-cooked meals. Home is crying over the same old chick flicks over and over with my mom and sister while my dad rolls his eyes. Home is conversations that begin with “remember that one time when...” Home is arguments over which radio station to listen to on car rides. Home is laughing until I cry about inside jokes that still don’t get old after seven years. Home is knowing the town you're in like the back of your hand and having memories in every crevice of it.
However, home is also going on impulse adventures around a brand new city with my friends. Home is Tuesday nights spent in the library. Home is the Sodexo worker who knows my order before I even start talking. Home is putting off doing laundry until my last clean shirt. Home is midnight McDonald’s runs with my friends when we just can’t study anymore. Home is walking into my friends’ rooms without knocking just to say “hello.” Home is seeing friends on my way to class every morning. Home is f’real milkshake runs in the middle of winter. Home is rolling out of bed 10 minutes before class starts and somehow still making it on time. Home is telling my new friends about high school memories and hearing all about their’s. Home is confidently knowing the location of only one thing in the town you’re living in Target. Home is life talks in the dorm lobby at 2 a.m. Home is making long lasting memories with lifelong friends in brand new places.
In the past year, I have started calling two different places “home,” something that I view as one of my biggest blessings. I have come to realize that home is no longer a place for me, it is a feeling. It is the feeling I get when I am surrounded by the people that I love when I am comfortable in my own shoes, and when I am enjoying my life for exactly what it is.
