This time of year is different now that I am in college. Not a bad different. Not a good different. Rather a different that is noticeable and acknowledgeable, yet inconsequential to some extent.

For example, I just spent a week at home for Thanksgiving. I saw the family, friends, and places that used to be daily constants. I heard the stories of my hometown that haven’t changed all that much. In doing this, I had a chance to reconnect and refocus on the things that have been and are important to me. The things that ground me.

Life is so sensational because it is always evolving, sometimes without notice. I think going home after living away for a large amount of time brings about a sense of nostalgia for what used to be as well as the love for new pieces of yourself.

This certainly happened in my case. Now that I am back on campus, I see the changes in myself and the things that influence my decisions, and dedication.

The strangest part of this odd holiday season now that I live in Louisville is the broken-up segments of being home and being “home”.

I was discussing with my mother, just the other day, the oddity of how to define a place in which you live. What makes it home?

I decided that for me, home is the place for which my mind wonders and creates, the place where the people that I love and that love me live, and the place that I build myself for better or for worse. I have two homes now.

At the moment, I am at my new home in Louisville. A place where every day is an entirely new adventure. This is my first finals week as a University of Kentucky student, and I have made a point not to stress as I would have in the past.

I have seen several movies off that list from two weeks ago, Lady Bird and Three Billboards. I have started Christmas shopping for both my new and old friends, all of which I love with the same enthusiasm. However, when the time comes, I work. I have finally found a balance that lets me live my passions and work towards academic success without compromise. I am positive many of my high school teachers will have trouble believing this, but I assure you all it is true. It turns out I can chill out just a tad.

Christmas. I’ll be home again. Back to streets that I could drive without looking and the places that make my heart full. It’s incredible and maybe unfair that, in this moment, I am insurmountably happy living, in this time, with two homes.

It almost seems fictional to watch yourself and your friends grow, but it can’t be fantasy because the feelings and images are too real. It is here, and it is happening, and it is so beautiful.

This has been a love letter for both my homes, my family, and all of my friends.