Everybody says that the summer before college is the greatest but also the quickest. You're busy shopping, packing and preparing for the wide world of college while also fitting in all of your lasts. Your last trip to the beach with your closest friends, your last slice of real New York-style pizza, your last late-night adventure, your last sunrise and your last time being in the place you were born and raised – your home. Everything is ending and final because even though you will come back home in just a few months and still have next summer to spend with your friends, everything will be different. When you arrive back home in four short months, nothing will be the same. Your daily life at home is not the same because while it will always be your first home, you have also found your second home.

Being an out-of-state student, my summer started on June 27th and ended August 10th. With a 10 day trip between those dates, I was home for 35 days this summer – a little over a month to fit in everything to make summer as memorable as possible. Spending mornings searching for supplies to nights driving around with my friends, my summer may have been short; however, it was full of leisure and joy to distract from the inevitable finale on August 10th. Since my summer ended earlier than my friends back home when they are together, the feelings of homesickness are on the verge of forming. Regardless, summer has ended for me and I am beginning the newest chapter in the book of life – college. I have said my final goodbye and now get to say hello to new people every single day. From my classmates in lecture halls to my hall neighbors and even random students, I pass on the street, every face is a blank slate that will quickly become a familiar face. People who are full of personality and a story which I can not wait to discover. I have finished my thirty-five days of summer but am only beginning my four years of college.

For my friends, family, and community who are constantly supporting me at home, I promise, I am doing great – meeting new people and making new memories. For my new friends, thank you for taking me in within a few short days – it can not be very easy. And ... for the people I will inevitably meet in the future – hello, I can not wait to see what the future becomes!

The dog days of summer have officially ended; however, the dawg days at UGA have only just begun. With an abundance of experiences ahead of me, I know that college will be full of many more laughs, tears and moments that would not have been possible without my family and friends back home. The thirty-five days this summer went by fast, but every moment was wonderful because it was spent in my first and favorite forever home.