Living at school is great. Friends constantly surround you, you eat whatever and whenever you want and you have an entire campus to call home. It does not take long for me to start calling school “home” once I’ve moved in for the year. I remember I wanted to buy a cute pillow that said, “Home Sweet Home” for my dorm and my mom got wildly offended. I understood why she didn’t want me to get it. She and my dad had made a home for me for the past 19 years, so it’s difficult for them to understand that I see my college as my home, as well. Thanks to living at school, I now have two homes.
I love going to my real home for a weekend with my parents. It’s nice to get away from dorm living for a couple days. When you are living in a dorm, people constantly surround you. Sometimes you can’t even find a back stairwell with no one in it so that you can take a personal phone call. You might just want to lie in bed all day and not communicate with anyone but your roommate might have other plans, which is fine because they are equally entitled to that room, as well. You might want to listen to loud music in the shower, but so does the girl in the shower stall next to you. So there you are, shampooing your hair and stuck listening to some hard-core rap music when you’re more of a country fan.
In addition to having limited privacy, a mass of people also leads to germs. I always get sick at some point each semester. When you live with so many people and share so many things, you are bound to get each other sick. That’s why going to your real home for a weekend allows you not only to be alone but also to maintain your health. Plus, my mom likes to make me a cup of tea when I’m home, which I can never pass up.
There’s a weird feeling that comes with going home. Fears of missing out engulf you as you as you sit on the couch, catching up on your favorite TV shows. The feeling of sitting on the cushions that are engraved with your shape is great but you are also wondering what everyone back at school is doing. It could be the most boring weekend at school but if you are not there, you will feel like you missed out on something great. You will be content with being home but also have a straining feeling of counting down the hours until you’re back at school. This is the cost you pay when you have two homes.
Having two homes is such a privilege. I love living on-campus and would not change it for the world. I’m also very thankful that I will have my real home to return to if I need to for a weekend. I think one way you know you are at the right college is if you catch yourself calling it home. It’s a comforting feeling but also a strange realization that you’ve made your own home away from home. But it is a feeling I wouldn’t trade for the world.
