“Oh, you’re from New Jersey? I could so tell by the accent. I swear, everyone who goes here is from New Jersey!”
These remarks followed every introduction that I gave within my first few weeks at Marist College, as it seemed to everyone on campus, but myself, that everyone there was from the same place as I am. It seemed as though every time I met someone from Jersey, I instantly breathed a sigh of relief and felt an instant connection. Having heard people refer to such a feeling for years, I can finally relate to the oddly comforting feeling of knowing that the girl you just met in the bathroom on your floor lives in the same mile radius of your favorite pizzeria at home.
From meeting that guy from a few towns over who shares your appreciation for Tito’s Burritos in Ridgewood to talking to a girl who misses Playa Bowls just as much as you do, there is something special about sharing the same little things that make your home what it is. There is something heartwarming in the realization of simple common threads connotating home to you both, in different ways and with different memories surrounding them.
The realization of these simple common threads acts as an automatic catalyst to comfort and an oddly exciting way to bond with the people you meet at school—non-New Jerseyans could not possibly relate to the shared experiences that we’ve had with Kohrs or Joe Leones.
Between drives down the parkway and sunsets on the Mantaloking Bay, New Jerseyans create countless memories in the backyards of their family’s shore houses and in the realm of our state’s famously homey vibe. From picking up a box from Mueller’s Bakery to share with the family on a fall Sunday morning to grabbing an egg sandwich at Prime, New Jerseyans all sincerely miss the same things at home that connotate the most precious of memories unable to have been made anywhere else.
When that girl on your floor notices your Beach House Surf Shop t-shirt, that you mindlessly put on to go to sleep in, appreciate that inner sigh of relief when you instantly remember the times you pulled that same t-shirt on the beach when it became a little chilly at 5 p.m. Appreciate your Jersey memories and the probability that the girl on your floor shares a similar sentiment with the same place.
Appreciate the Hudson beside your building for now, but anticipate the Atlantic beside the one and only place you call home.
