Being a college student can often leave you feeling like a transient with no home. Whether you're away for the semester living in a dorm, in another state on a summer internship, or even visiting your parents for the weekend, odds are you may feel displaced. I remember moving out of my home for my first semester of college. When I came back, my room had been taken over by my younger sibling. Life had moved on without me at home, and it hurt. My college residence became new home. It was not exactly ideal living alone with my dog, but I was desperate to feel at home. I decorated to make the place my own. I collected friends and invited them over as much as possible. I filled my place with friends and made it a home.
My new home was becoming more and more normal until the summer prior to my senior year. I accepted an internship several hours from my new home and my original home, and I knew no one. The friends I had wrapped myself up in like a safety blanket were now too far away. All I had left was myself. Being so isolated was hard. I felt like I had no place where I truly belonged and it hurt. It hurt being away from friends and family, and it was painful to watch their lives go on without me through social media posts and texts.
College displaces a person in so many ways, and these four short years can feel like a lifetime. A lifetime of not belonging anywhere and a constant state of limbo where all your friends, your clothes, your pets, and your memories are scattered in various zip codes. It can be exhausting. It's hard to merge back into your old life every summer into a house that doesn't always feel like home anymore and try to fit back into their new normal. It's hard to move constantly and always feel like a transient just passing through.
All these things are hard, it's true. The coursework is piled on, the friendships old and new are struggling and you can feel hopeless at times, but these will be such wonderful memories and beautiful experiences. It will be nothing short of your greatest achievement. You will overcome the trials of university. So enjoy these years, revel in the uncertainty, and remember home isn't a place. You can find home in your friends, your family, your significant other, and sometimes you can find home within yourself.