Summer: a time where college students make one of the most difficult decisions of their lives. Following weeks of cramming for finals and experiencing feelings of nostalgia that another year is over, we are faced with a heart wrenching decision. We can choose to pack our bags, load our cars, and head back to our natural safe zone - home. Or, we can choose to remain in our college town, sublease an apartment, take classes, and continue living the young-adult dream. With two reasonable options in front of us, how are we supposed to choose? How are we expected to forego our grass-grown roots just to remain in our new found life of freedom and independence? Just the same, how could we allow ourselves to disregard the endless possibilities and limitless potential our college scene can offer in the magical months of summer? The choice is difficult, but it's all yours. Choose wisely.
Hometown
At home you're greeted with familiar road signs, roundabouts, and restaurants. When there is a new banner or set of freshly planted flowers outside your dentist office, the changes are glaringly obvious only to you.
“Dad, you didn't tell me that the Millers got new patio furniture?!"
“Oh, did they? I didn't notice."
You will go visit your high school job and maybe even work a few days each week because a year of having to buy your own shampoo really damaged your savings account.
You hang out with your childhood friends – laughing about the memories you all created while apart and reminiscing on the times you have shared with one and another since preK.
You realize you don't mind spending your Saturday nights watching a PG movie with your family and sharing the couch and popcorn bowl with your little brother (whose voice is octaves deeper than when your came home for Christmas).
You may stop into your high school, visit with your favorite teachers, and allow them to take credit for your collegiate success.
You finally get to spend quality time with your mom (how did you survive so long without her?) and then she recommends you order a salad (oh yeah, that's how.)
You marvel at the fact that the locally-owned frozen yogurt business survived another winter. And you couldn't be happier that it did.
The overwhelming familiarity, the relaxing comfort, and unwavering security are the components that make your hometown irreplaceable. Every time you return, you develop an even greater appreciation for the place that raised you, shaped you, and eventually led you into the next (and possibly greatest?) chapter of your life.
College town
You've entered the realm of college nervous and excited – mind full of expectations and anxieties. You have never seen 99 percent of these places or people before, but you cannot wait to become immersed in the culture of your college town.
You have to use your GPS to get to Kroger and you get lost going to the mall. But that's okay, because you accidentally discovered an adorable “hole in the wall" coffee shop along the way.
Walking to class is a surprisingly enjoyable experience as you get to soak up the natural, historical beauty of your campus, filling you with pride and appreciation.
When placed in a social situation, you meet hordes of new people every night – only able to remember their names by mentally comparing them to someone you went to high school with.
You cannot help but absorb the energy of your college town – your university football team's colors and mascot are displayed everywhere within a 30-mile radius.
When your parents or friends from home come to visit, you cannot wait to show them every inch of your new life. You are able to give them a more extensive tour each time, authenticating each place by linking the location with a story about your first experience there.
Your life is full of "firsts." First football game, first all-night study session, first fraternity band party, first time doing laundry by yourself, first movie night with your college best friends – there is a new 'first' to be discovered every day.
The new friends you have made quickly fill the void that home left in your heart and as you take on your college experience together, you immediately establish unbreakable bonds with strangers you barely know.
If you're lucky enough to have two homes where you can live happily, you have truly been given a gift. Even though you will never be able to honestly choose your favorite because each has qualities you know you are unable to live without, you can always hold on to the abiding certainty that two homes is better than one.
