As I arrive back at home for the summer after my first year of college, I can’t help but think of how weird it really is to be back here. This little town is where I grew up. I know all of the good restaurants, the fun hiking trails, where the speed limits change, and the best spots to watch the sun set. Basically, I know this place like the back of my hand, so why does it feel so unnatural now?
For college, I chose to go pretty far — about 1,400 miles away. Making that adjustment was tough, but once I adjusted, I was good to go. I constructed a whole new life for myself once I got there, which was scary at first but ended up being pretty awesome. The time you have after graduating high school is definitely one for learning what exactly to do with all of your newfound freedom.
As my mom always tells me, college is my time to be selfish (within reason, of course), so I decided to do what I wanted. I changed my major to something that I actually could see myself having a future in. I met a lot of people and chose who I wanted to end up becoming closer with. I got involved with causes I’m passionate about. I even got my first real job. My first semester felt more like I was just scrambling around, trying to balance so many new things at once, but my second semester really made me feel like I had figured the whole college thing out. I could physically feel myself becoming more comfortable being in this new city of mine.
Through all of these little milestones, I feel like I really figured myself out as a person. Do you know how refreshing that is? I’ve learned exactly what I want from my life and out of the people in my life, which makes me feel like I have some sort of direction for my future. However, all these people and places and things that I’ve adapted to are just not really applicable in my hometown, and I think that’s the weird thing.
It’s hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that I have up and left my current home, for my other home. Everything about each place is just so different. Even I am different in both homes. My responsibilities are completely different in each place, meaning I definitely have way less to do when I'm at home with my family. Despite these differences, I could not be more grateful for these two homes that I now have. My first home developed me initially as a person; my second home help me both grow and improve. I guess you can tell you picked the right college when it's just as hard to leave your tiny dorm room after nine months as it was to leave your full-sized home after 18 years.
