When I left for college as a freshman, I knew I'd miss home. I'm seven hours away from my family, friends, house, dog, hometown... the list goes on and on. I knew it would be hard waking up and knowing I couldn't just walk down the hall to see my mom or be under the roof that I had been protected by for 18 years of my life. I was in a new world; my new home away from home.

As the years went on, the feeling of being homesick never left. I constantly wished I was with my family celebrating a sibling's birthday or eating dinner with them on a Monday night. I missed the smell of my house and the familiarity of my hometown. Being away from home has been one of the hardest things, and even four years later it bothers me to an extent.

The meaning of homesick has changed for me over the years, though. Instead of thinking homesick is missing my physical home and town I'm from, homesick means missing the people in my life that aren't with me right now. I'm homesick from the people who make me feel most at home in their presence. This meaning has changed a lot for me over the past years.

But being homesick does not mean I am unhappy where I am right now.

I am so happy and content with the life I'm living and where I am. I have created my own physical home hours from my family and friends. I am doing my own thing, happy where I am, and I am still homesick.

Homesick doesn't have to be such a negative word. Of course, I miss my loved ones. I wish they were here with me right now, but being homesick isn't going to force me back to my physical home out of sadness. Being homesick can be something good, because you then know you have someone out there who you can call home, no matter what.