Four white walls

That's what I saw when I walked into my college bedroom freshman year

That's what I saw when I walked into my college bedroom sophomore year

That's what I saw when I walked into my college bedroom junior year

That's what I'll see my senior year

College bedrooms

They each tell a story of the college students who lived there before us

They hold the memories we keep closest to our heart for the rest of our lives

They remember the tears of joy and the tears of sadness

College bedrooms are bare when we first see them

They're plain until we cover them in pictures from home and string lights we bought at Target

They make us miss home a little more

We miss our childhood bedroom, with its walls painted the same color as they were when we were five

We miss snuggling with our dog after a long day

We miss the warm summer days with the sun beaming on our skin

And the late nights spent laughing with our friends back home

Mom's home cooking, we miss that the most

College bedrooms

They start to feel like home after a while

As the semester progresses, we miss our childhood bedroom a little less, and love our college bedroom a little more

While college feels more like home as time passes, we know not to get too comfortable

Time flies when you're having fun

After nine months, we pack up our college bedroom and prepare to return home

We remove our string lights and pack up our pictures

When we shut the door to our college bedroom one last time, it's as if we were never there

When the next college students moves into that same bedroom three months later, they will see what we saw when we first walked in

Four white walls