My professor asked us, “Where do you call home?”

He turned to me. “Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,” I said. “Even though I don’t live in the city, it is a place that is more than just the city. It’s a bunch of towns, but we all identify from the same place.”

My friend said, “I think home is here in Nyack. It’s where I’ve spent the last few years in college and made some of my greatest friends. It’s home to me.”

I realized that I have two homes.

Every time I go back home to Pittsburgh from college, a sweet, familiar feeling sweeps over me. I feel comfortable, and I am reminded of memories, family, and how this place has shaped my identity.

Now that I have been in college, I have a greater appreciation for my home in Pittsburgh. I notice more, but it is also different. I am returning to a place after being away, and I have been shaped by my home at college.

What I have learned from having more than one home:

1. The first time you think of somewhere new as your home, you’ll feel a tug on your heart.

You will be happy and feel content in where you are. Yet, it feels bittersweet, and it hurts a little.

2. You learn home is not just a place.

It’s a feeling, people and where you’ve made memories. It’s found in what you’ve grown to love about somewhere new.

3. Places and people change, but you learn contentment in who you're becoming.

You want to embrace your life wherever you are.

4. You are never good at saying goodbye.

You may not physically be in the same place with the same people, but you take pieces with you wherever you go. You never really leave.

5. While you will always miss home, you are not entirely homesick.

You will miss the little things about home and feel nostalgic once in awhile, but you find home where you’re planted.