By mid-junior year of high school, we were ready. We were ready to leave our small towns and become a part of something bigger. We were ready for everything that the next four years would bring. We were ready to embark on our own college journey. And now that we are here, we are endlessly in love with it. We thrive on everything that college is: late nights, frat parties, pool parties, new friends, freedom, and yes, parents…class. We virtually bleed our school colors and proudly admit that 75% of our wardrobe consists of game day apparel. College is everything the movies make it out to be.

But, in total honesty, when we have a night in and let ourselves decompress, we find that we miss home a bit more than we may have expected. While we may not readily admit it, a small part of each of us is slightly homesick. We miss our small hometown that we couldn’t wait to get out of. We miss the comfort of our old friend group even though just months ago, we wanted nothing more than to start new. We even miss our mom’s constant nagging to clean our room and feed the dogs.

In no way am I saying that we don’t love our University, our shoebox of a dorm room, our stay out all night freedom or our kick a** new friends. But when it’s all said and done, when we let ourselves see the truth, we do miss life before Tipsy Tuesdays, Wine Wednesdays, Thirsty Thursdays, and oh so blurry Saturdaze. We miss you guys. But that’s completely ok; or at least in my opinion it is. It’d be sort of crazy if we could completely disconnect from parts of a life that we had known for eighteen years.

At the end of the day, college is still going to be some of the best four years of our lives. No one said that we need to love every minute of it. No one said that we can’t have moments when we miss home. And no one said that you’re the only one feeling this way. The truth is, everyone is. Whether they admit it or not, everyone misses someone or something from their lives before college. But give your new friends the chance—let them be there for you and you might be surprised by how easily they can relate.

I get that I’m just a first semester freshman myself - I have no idea what comes next… I have no idea what to expect. Most of us aren’t looking for someone to tell us how this story that is college will end four years from now. We are just looking for reassurance that everything we are feeling, good and bad, at the beginning of this journey is normal. We are looking to find that we are not alone; and we certainly aren’t.

So trust yourself. Trust that you’re going to love this and that this is going to be everything you expected. Trust that this is the process. Wear your school colors proudly and embrace your new life, but remember the love for and values from your hometown that you brought you here.

And hey, mom and dad, friends from home: if you guys are reading this, we want you to know that we LOVE this university, but we love you and miss you even more.