To the homesick college freshman,
Being five hours, forty-six minutes, and 324 miles from the only home I have ever known I find myself getting a little homesick every now and again. I completely understand your ache and pain for home.
College isn't your home yet. Maybe it will always just be your home away from home. If you're anything like me you’ve spent pretty much your whole life in the same small town. You went to school with the same kids. You could probably drive through your hometown with your eyes closed because it’s that familiar. You can't even walk into the grocery store without having to stop and say hi to almost everyone. It is going to take some time to make college your new home. Even when you finally make it feel like it is your heart will ache for that small town that probably knows you better than yourself.
You've never spent this long from home. I mean, yeah, you have spent weekends at friends’ houses or even went to summer camps but you have never been away from home for majority of the year only seeing your family for a few days at a time or through Facetime.
Let’s face it, you miss your dog. Besides my niece and my little brother my dog is the only person that can't contain her excitement when I walk into that door. She just about tackles me every single time. Your dog is the only one that you can leave for months and come home and it was like you were never gone. It also doesn’t help that you have the cutest dog in the history of dogs.
No one is here to feed you. When it comes to food it’s like The Hunger Games, “may the odds be ever in your favor(FLAVOR?).” It’s okay to dream about those home cooked meals. Lord knows I miss them more than anything. Dining hall food just doesn’t even come close to those home cooked meals, but that’s what makes those quick trips home even better.
The world keeps revolving. The world kept going while you were gone. Your dog got bigger and fatter. Your niece is learning her colors now and she’s grown so much since you’ve been gone that you wonder if you’re missing out on her life. Your friends don't drop everything their doing just to hang out you just because you finally came home for a weekend. We have to face that the world kept going while we were gone and that's hard to realize at first.
Your professors didn't go to high school with your mom. Growing up in a small town like I did, my mom literally went to high school with pretty much every teacher. There was never any room to be late or not do my homework because my mom would know I did or didn't do something before I even knew. All of my teachers knew my name and there’s something comforting in that. In college I've had a professor twice (different classes) and she probably wouldn't even know I was in her class if I walked up to her.
You're homesick for high school. You see the students posting pictures of the very same halls you used to walk. You see them complaining about homework or after school practices and think to yourself, “man what I would do for that homework or even wishing you had athletics to make you work out” (the freshman 15 is real) so in a way your homesick for how easy high school was.
It is okay to be homesick. You long for that place that is so familiar and comfortable to you. So, as we all start moving home these next few weeks for summer break remember to cherish it. Trust me, I know sometimes that’s going to be hard and you are going to find yourself getting homesick for that home away from home and that’s okay too. Just remember that when your parents nag you about doing chores and are breathing down your neck, around this time next semester you’re going to strangely miss having someone telling you what to do and, of course, buying you food.
