Oliver Wendell Holmes said it best when he stated, “Where we love is home-home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts.”

As cliché as it is, home is truly where the heart is. Being away from the home I was raised in, this past year, made me realize how true this is. For my whole life, I grew up in a small town in New Jersey. I didn’t realize how much that small town had felt like home until it was about time for me to move over 100 miles away and start a new chapter of my life, college. Leaving home came with both a nerve-wracking and exciting feeling, but knowing I was only two hours away was comforting.

Today, I feel that home is not only a place, but a feeling as well. Throughout my four years in high school, I had close friends who made our town feel like home no matter where we were. They made everything so much easier especially by accepting me for me. Although this is true, all we really did was complain that there was never anything to do which led to us eventually convincing ourselves that we lived in the most boring town to ever exist. Finally, I came to the realization that at the end of the day, it didn’t matter where we were or what we were doing as long as we were having fun together. Right before it was time to go our separate ways and start bigger things was the time my friends and I realized all of us were just happy to have surrounded ourselves with people who impacted our lives. Then, it became time to leave and I wasn’t so sure if I would be able to feel the same comfort I did with my high school friends.

I seemed to have proved myself wrong. Here, in college I know I found my third home, though it has definitely been difficult trying to make my 17’ x 10’ dorm room feel "homey." Looking back, it has been more about the people I have come across who made this year so enjoyable. Despite the awful dining hall food, mental breakdowns, and long hours in the library, I would say my friends and I did a nice job of making the University feel like our new home.

When all is said and done, home could be classified as many things, a place, a feeling, an emotion, or a reaction. Luckily, for me it’s both a place and a feeling. I have found incredible people who make home a feeling, as well as a comforting household with my family where I know the door is always open. Even though I do have a permanent address to make me feel at home, I have also learned the feeling of home, which can simply be defined as the people who bring positive vibes and good energy.