During my time in Nebraska, I have had a blast.
I have learned to juggle my classes and the work associated with them. The food has become a bit more tolerable, I can find my way around campus, and my roommates and I are getting along nicely. I am no longer nervous to ask my professor questions during or after class, and most of all, I have learned to awaken before 10 in the morning, most of the time.
Now, this is all fine and dandy, but after a month of being away I am starting to get a little homesick.
This feeling is really abnormal for me, to say the least. Normally, I am away from home for the weekend to spend time with family or away for the day to hang out with friends. I can't really say that I've been gone for a period of time longer than three days. Even when I drove to Nebraska for my college orientation day, I was gone for almost 24 hours. I didn't spend the night somewhere in Iowa, although maybe I should have. I left at 2:30 in the morning and got back around 12:30 the following morning. I must say that my cats were very delighted to see me come home and my mother was glad to see that my car survived the trek.
To me, this feeling is more abnormal because I cannot take my support system with me to college. I can't pack up all my friends and my cats in a box to keep me company and distract me from homework here in Lincoln. I've had to learn to live without them for a little while. It's just one of those "adult" things.
I must say that it has been hard knowing that my cats are still looking for me in the house and that my mom will text me every once in a while to come home before 11 and that I need to do the dishes. I cannot really ask a friend to come over or if I could go to their house for a little bit because I'm nowhere near them. I even miss my brother's constant chatter, the litanies we'd carry on.
I do have good news in that regard; I'm coming home.
I'm coming back for three days. I'm not coming back just to see my friends and family. I'm back to see my South Dakota ACLU family and to meet one of my role models. Friends and family are just an added bonus. I'll be on a plane for the first time, and I still don't know how to feel about that. I'll be able to see my cats again. And, most of all, the journey home will give me a chance to give those wonderful people a hug and a thank you.
Thank you.
