Two years ago, I was the girl you would hear yelling down the high school hallways about how much she just could not wait to get out of the town she grew up in.

There was nothing I wanted more than to go to college far far away from all the kids I’d spent the last four years with.

My town felt too small, too cramped, and too familiar.

Where I grew up and the schools I went to, everyone knew each other. Everyone went to the same summer camps, played the same extra curricular sports, and lived in the same neighborhoods.

I couldn’t leave my house without seeing someone I knew, and at that time in my life, nothing could’ve been worse.

I was over it, like so so over it.

But since coming to college I’ve learned something, you will always miss your hometown, no matter what.

I learned that there’s a reason Dorothy spends an entire movie clicking her heels together trying to get home.

Having a home, having somewhere to go back to, family to see, is the best feeling in the world.

You'll be sitting somewhere, hundreds of miles away, and you'll see your city's sports teams winning and you'll be hit with pride. You'll recognize the stadium and know exactly where it is. You'll tell all your friends that that's your hometown.

Driving home from the airport seeing your city’s skyline come into view is one of the greatest feelings. Recognizing each and every turn as you approach your neighborhood.

The trees you used the climb, the signs your bike never seemed to stop at on the way to the corner store.

There’s nothing like walking into a bedroom plastered with years of your memories. Walking down hallways lined with pictures from every stage of your life.

Nothing like being able to get in your car and ending up at your best friends house 10 minutes later and realizing you did the entire drive solely on muscle memory.

Nothing like laying down in the same bed you laid in every night for years.

The bed you cried in the first time your heart was broken; the bed you would cover in books as you crammed for a test; the bed you and your friends would jump on, singing all the words to your favorite songs.

You grew up in your hometown. You made mistakes. You made memories. You crossed milestones and achieved goals. It has seen everything.

You grow up a lot at college. Things change, and the person you were almost disappears. But when you come home, you get to be that person again. You get to relive those moments. The pictures on the wall, the trinkets lining your shelves, they are all there to remind you of the life you’ve lived and the memories you made, before you went off to find yourself.

Home is more than a place. It’s a feeling. It’s the memories you’ve made and the people you’ve shared them with. You can travel the world, you can see hundreds of cities and countries, but they will never give you the same feeling as your home.

So while you may be just like me, counting down the days to get out of your hometown, just remember, there really is no place like home.