Two years ago, I was your typical 20-year-old small-town girl. I grew up in the small town of Channahon, located in Illinois. My life was comfortable. I had a job at the local Jimmy John’s, went to the local community college and basically had the same friends since high school and some since I was six years old. There came a time where I itched for something new. I was not happy with my everyday life, but at the same time, I did not want to leave my comfort zone. Growing up I was always the shy one of the group. Just talking to people to order food was tough for me. Secretly, deep down I always wanted to leave that small town that shaped me and see if I can make a difference in the world. I decided that my way out would be to continue my education at an out-of-state college. I applied only to one college and that was University of Wisconsin Green Bay. It was four hours away from home, but close to a family cabin. It fit the best of both worlds for me. It was far enough from home where I could find myself and see where I fit in this world, but it was close enough where if I truly felt homesick I could go home. It also gave my dad an excuse to go to our cabin and to visit me more frequently than he normally would! Soon my dream that I itched for, something new, became a reality.

At the end of the summer, I moved to a new town and a much bigger one, at that. I went from a population of about 10,000 people to a population of about 130,000 people. My first couple of months in a new place made me beyond homesick. I went home about every two weeks, which added a lot of mileage to my old Ford Focus at the time. I considered coming back home and going to a university that was closer to home over and over again. I cried endlessly night after night. I called home almost every single day and I felt more lost then I ever felt in my life. I pulled myself together about two months into the semester and decided that maybe if I put myself out there and join an organization that I would love, then maybe I wouldn’t hate being away from home so much! Maybe if I met some friends, I wouldn’t miss the ones I left at home or at least not as much. So I did just that. I went to an organization fair that displayed all of the organizations I could join and I found Habitat for Humanity UWGB chapter. I signed up and eventually became a frequent member of the organization! I looked forward to every Wednesday where that one day each week, I was not alone. This was the beginning of that piece of me I felt was missing.

Once I was able to find my fit in a new place, I suddenly didn’t feel so alone anymore. Jumping into this organization led to finding my true passion of helping people. A couple months later and I was on my first winter Habitat build trip with 30 people I barely knew. I went on this trip as an individual and came back from the trip with 30 new friends. That trip was my turning point where I realized who I was, who I wanted to be and where to go from there. This trip lead me to wanting to one day work for a nonprofit as wonderful as Habitat for Humanity. It pushed the limit of my shy personality and forced me to realize that I am independent and I can handle anything that comes my way. I will always miss being away from home because that is where my heart will always be. I will always miss my family every second I’m apart from them. I will always miss my best friends at home. Nothing will ever replace that feeling of home for me. I take that with me as I continue on the path of embracing my independence and follow it to somehow making this world a better place with my passion and hope.