Nothing lasts forever.

At least, that’s what they always tell you. They tell you every good thing in your life must eventually come to an end. They tell you that some of the best moments of your life will eventually fade into a distant memory; the little details of that night you jumped into the campus fountain, that 2 a.m. run through the forest where you shouted above the tallest treetops, when you accidentally slept in the grass while counting the stars, or the time you (irresponsibly so) jumped into the quarries at dusk will no longer feel real.

The residual smell ofYour Favorite Place on Earth after the newly fallen rain will cease to linger.

You don’t believe this will ever be your reality until graduation day approaches and you finally face the harsh truth that you will inevitably leave Your Favorite Place on Earth. You’ll leave friends, professors, lovers both past and present, and even your favorite cashier at the dining court. You’ll depart from the place you once called home, a place that for so many sought refuge in times of anguish. You’ll fly far away from your dorm, the one where you cried all night over something that now seems trivial. You’ll leave your favorite park bench; the one you sat on with your first serious boyfriend while you watched newly fallen snow melt on your legs. You once found solace in the limestone that lined every building and the brick that paved every path, but now it’s no longer your home.

So where is home after we move on?

Much to my mother’s chagrin, it took me almost no time at all to start referring to my dorm as my “home” when I first arrived at college four years ago. I guess there’s a reason for that: home is where the heart is, I’ve also been told. Home is wherever you hold your dearest memories, the place that leaves the most lasting impression, and the place that molds you into the exceptionally strong human being that you are today. Home is the place that wrapped its arms around you all those years, shielding you from the vitriol of this unforgiving world. Home is, unequivocally, your sanctuary.

You’ll laugh, cry, and smile your way across that field on graduation day in your bulky, flowing black gown and glittery cap decorated from the night before. At the end of the day, you’ll leave Your Favorite Place on Earth with a diploma in hand, a brighter future, a world full of endless possibilities — and this promise:

Your favorite place on Earth will never leave you.