Yesterday, I came home from college following the last final of my freshman year. It took the world’s most difficult game of 3D tetris to fit my entire life into my dad’s white SUV, but four hours on the road brought me home to Saratoga, NY. When I stepped through the door carrying three boxes stacked on top of each other, I experienced that delightful sensation of coming home. The smell, the furniture, and the sounds of birds singing outside my window greeted me with an overwhelming sense of welcome and belonging. It just felt right to be there.

Coming back from dinner with my dad at Panera later that evening, I was thinking a lot about the concept of home. To me, home is the place you always long to return to, where you can curl up for an entire day in your pajamas watching Netflix. It is where you go to escape the world, and where you invite those you wish to know better. They always say “home is where the heart is”, and as I gazed over the fields of my town just beginning to produce crops, I realized what this meant for me. If home is where my heart feels tugged towards, I have four homes.

The first home that pulls on my heart is my mom’s, the home I grew up in. I know that house better than anyone in my family. I know exactly where to go to find anything, whether it’s rubber bands or Barbie dolls. That house is my house. My heart is there because I love my mom so freaking much. She is beautiful and outgoing, organized and fun, and I just love her so much. I know that whenever I come to Saratoga, I will never fail to go back to her house.

My second home is my dad’s house. He just bought it last year, but he’s put a lot of work into making it his own. I spent this morning painting my room in it a bright, sunny yellow, because it brings me joy. When my dad first moved into this house, I didn’t know if it would ever feel like home. After all, I didn’t grow up in it. There are no memories. But the treasure of this house is that it’s a blank slate for new memories, and I’ve already made some pretty great ones here. I am so proud of my father for making this house his home and devoting so much time, effort, and love to make it so.

I’m sure most of you can understand the idea of these first two being homes. My parents are there, they’re in my hometown, all the classic ingredients of a home. But the third and fourth homes are a little more difficult to understand, but all I know is that to me, they’re home too.

My third home is four hours west, in Alexander, NY. This is the house of Deven, my boyfriend. Before anyone gets all upset, the reason this is my home is because my heart is there too. I love Deven with all my heart, and I love his family as well. There are three quirky dogs, two extra older brothers, one sister-in-law, and a baby on the way. There is so much love within that family, so many inside jokes and shared memories and unbreakable bonds. I have been privileged to experience being a small part of this family for several weekends over the course of the last year, and it has been so wonderful. I can’t wait to visit this home over the summer, and to see the baby soon to be born.

The fourth home is just an hour south, and perhaps the most strange. I share this home with over a thousand people, none of whom are related to me. For the better part of the year, I’m tracking the days until I get to leave this place. But I know that I am not the only one who feels that it is home. In fact, we even have a hashtag for it #Houghme (pronounced home not homie, regardless of what I thought most of last year). Houghton College has all the elements of a traditional college campus, with dorms and classes and a cafeteria and an athletic complex. They have a chapel and a music building and an admissions office. But what really makes this place home, what fastens my heart to this campus, is the community (that word again). There are so many people that I love here, and it pains me to leave them even for a little while. Over the summer, I know that they will enjoy themselves and be well cared for, but I will miss them so much. If home is where the heart is, then Houghton is my home just like any other house, from now until forever.