I just recently finished my first year of college. I came home from living about 1,000 miles away from my family and friends for the past eight months and realized a few things. The first thing was that people really do change after high school. If you’re doing it right, you branch out and meet new people and experience a great deal of new things. The second thing I realized was that being home was lonely and was not as great as I had expected it to be. Don’t get me wrong, I love all the family time I’m getting and seeing the few friends I still see, but something is missing.

This is an open letter to the new and unfamiliar place that somehow became my second home.

To begin, I want to say sorry. I was angry at you and heartbroken to be a part of this journey for the first month or so. Moving in, I was so excited for everything to come, but that excitement quickly faded when I realized I was at the end of the road of being with my family. They couldn’t stay with me on my journey and I’m sure they wouldn’t have wanted to. I became angry and sad with the decision to leave everything I once knew behind. I have to say sorry for not trusting my judgment as well as trusting that you would soon become very special and important to me.

Thank you for the people you brought into my life. You brought me strangers and turned them into family. Who could’ve known I would trust people I’d known for less than a year with secrets I’d only told my longest friends? You brought me people I would soon share family traditions with, such as carving pumpkins, thanksgiving dinner and birthdays. You gave me people who had no problem taking care of me when I couldn’t do it alone anymore. You have brought me people who will be a part of my life forever and who have shaped me more in the past year than people I’ve grown up with.

Thank you for surrounding me with a supportive and encouraging atmosphere that opened me up to new experiences. Being alone I had two choices, become a recluse and avoid everyone until I could go home again or I could branch out and make the best time out of my experience. You made it so easy to go out, you brought me so many groups to help ease any homesickness and doubt I could have had. By the time winter break had rolled around I was anxious to get back to you and now in the midst of summer I am ready to be “home” again.

Thank you for being what I needed when I couldn’t even figure it out. There were so many times I wanted to quit, move home and start all over closer to my family, but you always seemed to know when I needed encouragement most. You brought opportunities to keep my morale high and kept people close to me when I needed it more than anything.

For everything you have done for me and you will do for me, thank you. I walked into a new place and it turned into my home without me noticing. Suddenly, all the days I had spent counting down to get back to my family switched to being days I couldn’t wait to get back to my new “home.”