I learned from college the true definition of home. According to Google dictionary, home is “a place where you live permanently.”

When coming to college I believed that I was leaving home, not just my house, but the place itself, the place where my house was situated. It didn’t take long for me to realize that I didn’t miss my city or my house, I missed the people and memories.

People and memories equal the true definition of home.

Distance really does make the heart grow fonder. I love my home so much more now and I love the people in it more, too. After 4 months away from home, I would see a friend, a place, or a friend’s car and love how it smelled. I missed how it smelled.

When I was missing home, I was really missing my support system: the people I felt most comfortable with. One of the hardest parts about college for me has been to create a whole new group of friends and a new support system—but in turn, I got a second family. I received people who loved me and probably knew me better than some of my friends in my hometown did.

But nonetheless, I was leaving behind people I’ve known my whole life or a least through my adolescent years. Home was often talked about, but I realized that I never would actually talk about the place itself, but rather the people in it. I would talk about my best friend’s house. She has a bench swing in her backyard and that swing was where some of my closest friendships were made; it became our safe place, our sense of security. The swing itself didn’t make it home, it was the people in these memories that did.

I can confidently say that I will miss my freshman dorm room, because of the memories that the room holds—staying up till 4 am listening to music or playing cards against humanities. College has become my home, because of the brilliant people around me who have stuck with me through the happy times and bad times, much like my friends from “home.”

Unfortunately, not everyone’s college feels like their home and a safe space. One of my friends from home goes back to our hometown every weekend from college, and I think it’s because she hasn’t created a second home or found people to help define her college as home for her.

I’m pretty blessed that I have found home here at USC, and I hope you've found home here, too. However, I will never forget the importance of my college home and my hometown home, because it’s important to have both. As we grow older, home might not be where you grew up, but it’s the people who live there that make it a wonderful place to exist.

It's okay to miss where you grew up because it helped shape who you are. But be open to this “new” home, because will shape you, as well.