Recently, I got back from college, home for summer break. And honestly, it felt weird.

Like, really weird.

I've spent the last four months of my life in a dorm sleeping in a bunk bed sharing a room with two other people. I've structured my life around my classes, and depending on the amount of school work I had during specific weeks would pass on participating in certain events. I've centralized my social life in a relatively small group of college friends with whom I have had many amazing adventures with this past semester. And at Liberty, we have what is called "plus swipes", where we can get certain meals at different restaurants all over campus for the cost of a swipe...so I'm used to rationing out my swipes and eating at the dining hall when I'm running low. I'm also used to a curfew at midnight, convocation (a campus-wide gathering of sorts) on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings, and working in the nursery Wednesdays and Sundays for student community service hours. Basically, I had a routine. My life was centered around college rather than my hometown community, as it had been before college for my entire childhood. So now coming back, I have to learn how to get back into the swing of things.

Don't get me wrong, coming home and being able to sleep in my own bed for the first time in months was great. Not having to set an alarm to rush to my morning classes was great, too. And walking outside to surroundings I've been familiar with for years? Amazing. But still, I feel like I don't quite belong. Like I'm in limbo.

In essence, the last nine months of my life have been spent at college. So, it always feels weird coming home. I know that I'm welcome here and that I'm surrounded by people who love me, but I still feel like I should be somewhere else, somewhere that I grew to be used to. When I went to college, I left behind many high school friends. It's going to feel weird seeing them because although we were and still are friends, we no longer live the high school life together. For nearly the past year, I've been living my own life in one environment and one place while they were living their lives in a completely different setting. I feel like there's so much I need to tell them and vice versa, things about our lives and our communities that can't be accurately conveyed over the phone. It's a strange feeling.

I'm also going to have to get a job for the next few months. I'm used to working in the summer, so it's not too big of a change for me, except for the past school year I've had a different kind of job: full-time college student. It sounds cheesy, but it's true! It feels relieving, but odd and somewhat sad that I don't have any assignments left to turn in until fall semester begins. I know that makes me sound like a geek...but I actually really enjoy some of my classes! Now instead of worrying about deadlines and if I completed assignments correctly, I'm going to have to focus on what time I need to be at work by and how to plan my days off most efficiently.

I'm sure in a few weeks after I've gone back to my home church and seen all my friends again, gotten used to the allergies my cats and the spring season brings, and the weather grows warmer, I will feel right at home once more. But for now, I'm in a period of adjustment. And that's alright, because life is all about change. It's how we adapt to it that truly shows our character.