It had been months since I'd seen the waves, weeks since I'd felt the sand between my toes and a lifetime since I'd gone back to the sea. What was the first thing I'd done when I got home for spring break? You guessed it... I went to the beach.

Growing up just minutes from the shoreline in northern Massachusetts, I've become very attached to the ocean. Beach days, surfing, sailing, kayaking, coastal drives and scenic days at the park have become an everyday occasion for me — and not just in the summer. I basically grew up as a mermaid, and I made sure that the college I picked was near some kind of body of water, and Lake Champlain has fooled me as being the ocean more than once. Still, it isn't quite the same. The sunsets are just as beautiful, the waves are just as real and there are even spots of sand that pass as beach sand. But despite the resemblance, it's not the same. There's something about the ocean that no lake, pond, or spring could ever recreate.

When I return for breaks during the school year, the first thing I do is head straight to the beach. Unless I go at least once while I'm back home, it never really feels like I'm home at all. It's become somewhat of a ritual so that I feel like myself again and am able to survive another few months up in Vermont.

The best part is when the tide goes all the way out and I can put on my boots and walk out to the sandbar with the seagulls. This is where you find the most beautiful shells, rocks and views. Most importantly, this is a time to be alone with the sea and let go of how much you've missed it while you were away. A place where you can get back to it, dip your toes in and be truly happy again. Take it from a beach girl living in a flannel world: the ocean will make you feel better no matter what.

As much as I'm looking forward to going back to school, I'm really going to miss being home. And not just home as in my house or my town — home as in the beach and the ocean and the sea. No matter how far I travel, and how much I love the mountains, I can't fool anyone, I know where I belong and where my home is, and I will long for the ocean always.