As another year of college starts, it can be easy to fall into the sad feelings that accompany leaving home again. When I left for college for the first time at the beginning of freshmen year, I never thought I’d feel homesick. I was so ready to start my education. I thought I was ready to be on my own. I was experiencing new exciting things, focusing on my schoolwork, and making so many new friends and having a lot of good times. I was too overwhelmed to be homesick at first. But as the year wore on, I found myself getting more and more homesick. It seems like the older I get, the more homesick I get. I wish I could get in touch with the brave version of me from two years ago, so fearless and so ready to start over in a brand new place.

I found this year was the hardest year to leave home. I worry about missing out on things. My oldest brother just started his freshman year of college, my other brother is a junior in high school, and my little sister is now in eighth grade. I am a junior in college now. Time has flown by so quickly. I can’t believe that we are all this old already. When I think about this, I feel like I’m missing out on things at home. I’m missing all my little sister’s soccer games and cross country meets. I don’t get to help my little brother with his math homework like I used to. I haven’t been at my house during fall for going on three years in a row now. When is the last time I raked up the freshly fallen leaves into a giant pile and pretended to be mad at my brothers when they jumped in? When is the last time I went to the apple orchard with my family? I wish I could be home to go fishing with my dad on crisp, fall Saturday afternoons. I wish I could come home from school to see my mom baking my favorite oatmeal cake, the smell of cinnamon filling the warm kitchen as the days grow colder. I wish I could be home to see all the leaves change color at our house in the woods.

I think we all get homesick sometimes, and that’s okay. It’s okay to miss home and your family. It’s okay to miss your friends from back home too. I thought I had to be tough and never show that I got sad or homesick at school. I was wrong. The worst part about going to college is that you have bonds with people in two different places. Every time it’s time for me to go back to school after a break or vacation and I feel sad, my dad always tells me: “Remember why you’re there”. And he’s right. When I’m really missing home, I just remember what my goals are, and why I went to college in the first place. Even if I am missing out on stuff at home, it helps to remember that it’s my job to make my family proud and work towards my goals. And if I’m really feeling bad, home is always a phone call away. Never feel ashamed of being homesick. Never feel like you have to put on a tough face. Being away from home is hard, but it will all be worth it.