The age-old college affliction of homelessness.

Not everyone feels it, I won't lie. Some people are having a grand time here. I've heard plenty of times that for a lot of students, college is more of a home than anywhere else. Because of the people here, because of your dorm room, because of whatever.

But if you're out there and you don't feel the same way, you're not alone.

College isn't home for me, but honestly, neither is my home in Rochester Hills. For a while, it's felt like I've been stuck in a limbo of sorts and don't really know where I fit in. At the beginning of the school year, I couldn't have been happier here at college. I was in my element, striving, achieving, making friends. It felt like I was exactly where I wanted and needed to be. To help that, I had found a community of people that I loved, organizations to be a part of that I cared about, and classes that were exciting because they were new. College felt like a new home.

But then, I went home for two weeks over break and it messed me up. The nostalgia of being at home, of getting to spend time with my parents, brother, and dog, of eating warm, home-cooked meals, seeing old friends, sleeping in my own bed and lounging on my own couch, meant that I was not ready to leave when it came time to go back to school.

In just two short weeks, I had gotten back into a routine that resembled this past summer and felt closer and closer to home. I felt at peace, a kind of relaxation and homely comfort that I just didn't have on campus.

Yet, being at home didn't quite feel like being at home. Things were different. My parents were in their own routines, and even the house felt different. My heart ached to go back to school and see my friends, to get my hands back onto my projects.

But now, being back on campus, I'm completely and utterly torn in half. Right down the middle.

I'm so happy to be back, to be able to fill all the spaces that I love here at college again. But, at times, an intense longing for home and for my parents will hit me so hard, I can't help but break down and feel helpless. It's all Mom and Dad's fault, with her good cooking and his big hugs.

I think in moments like these, when you're torn in half between an identity here on campus and there at home, when you're torn between the people here and the people there, you just have to remember that life at this age is about balance. It's about being able to maintain two worlds (or more) and keep them balanced in your heart and mind.

It's about realizing that at any given time, you can't always have the best of every world, so you should enjoy the best of the world that you're currently in. Live completely in that place. I tell myself whenever I get homesick that I can't go home, I just can't right now. So suck it up, and go out there and make a home for yourself here.

Another good tip is to stay busy. Keep your hands and yourself engaged doing something you like and then you'll feel a lot less homesick. Crossing things off a to-do list makes you feel a lot happier than staring out the window when-will-my-husband-return-home-from-the-war style.

And if, while here, you ever miss home, you can always pick up the phone and call. Trust me, parents love getting calls home, for some unfathomable reason.