Most of us have thought about college since freshman year of high school. It practically felt decades away. We thought we'd never reach that part of our lives, but now we're here. We're in the big leagues now, boys and girls. We're on our own, dealing with responsibilities we used to have help with and taking on this massive world around us. However, with all this new freedom, this doesn't exclude the fact that many of us get homesick while others don't.
I have currently been in college for roughly two months now and I have had time to observe the dynamics of the people around me and the relationships they share with their family. While I have yet to visit home since I have been in Austin, I have witnessed people leave to go visit home every other weekend. It's made me wonder if it's bad that I haven't visited home yet. Should I be missing home? Why don't I? Does this make me a bad person?
I have come to realize that the difference between others and myself, and why I don't have such a strong desire to go back home is because I don't have parents. I don't know how it feels to have parents and to be separated from them for such a long period of time. I, on the other hand, have grown accustomed to not having parents. For what was once odd and heartbreaking to me is now what I call normal. These students who have parents have never been separated from them for such an extended period of time, which makes it understandable as to why they have a strong urge to visit them so often.
Siblings also play an important factor in the separation anxiety many students face. All four of my brothers are roughly in their late 20s and early 30s. I have always been the sibling they have looked out for since I am the youngest. I don't have to worry about a younger sibling, which is not the case for other students. My brothers are all grown men with families of their own, so there is no need for me to be too worried about their well beings. Many students have younger siblings in middle or high school and as big brothers or sisters, they feel that they have an obligation to protect them. They want to make sure they're going down the right path and doing the best they can with their studies.
We all get homesick at some point in our lives. Sometimes it won't be as severe for some as others. However, there is going to come a time where we are all going to miss our dad, mom, brother, sister, grandpa, grandma, or cousin. Whoever it may be, we should all keep in mind that they're only a phone call or text away. We're not in this alone.
