It’s funny, because as a college a student, so many of us are at this stage in life where all of our “homes” seem very temporary. Yes, my house in California where my family lives will always be considered my home. But now, so is my dorm room in Madison, Wisconsin, and during the summers it’s my cabin at Canyon Creek Summer Camp.
My life has become one where I pack up my suitcase of clothing appropriate for whatever the weather may be, and move it to my various homes throughout the year. I unpack temporarily at one location, do some laundry, and repack to head out to my next destination. And not only am I traveling between my house, dorm, and camp, but in the midst of all that I have traveled to different states and countries. While I know my house, my dorm, and my cabin are always going to be right where I left them, nothing seems permanent. I have come to realize and accept that I, Jordy Shinbane, am a nomad. I knew that I would have to get to this stage in life sooner or later, it just came way faster than I expected it to.
Before I moved away from home, I spent the majority of each year in my house with my family, but now my time has become so divided up between multiple locations. Moving from one place to another independently has caused me to grow up so much in this past year, and in this process of growing up I have come to learn that even though I pack up and move so often now, the location is not the home I even care about anymore, it’s the people. I hate being cheesy, and I hate how often I quote songs when trying to get a point across, but in the song “Home” by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, the chorus says “Home is wherever I’m with you,” and it’s very true! What I’ve realized is that the people I am surrounded by in all of the different locations in my life is what makes me feel at home.
At my house, I have my family who I love dearly, I also have my friends from high school or outside of school who make me so happy to come back to California. At camp, I have my “camp family,” some of whom I have grown up with and known every summer, and some of whom I meet when they arrive for the first time each summer. And now being at a new school, I am in the middle of creating another family here with all of the new friends I am meeting. I think it’s important to make sure we continue to surround ourselves with the people who make us feel at home. But I think it’s even more important to venture out into the world and to meet new individuals and create new homes globally.
When in college, and even many times after college, most people don’t have a permanent location to call “home.” Even if they feel one location will always be their home, it is temporary for the moment. It takes some years until you decide to settle down somewhere once you find a steady job. And sometimes, your steady job might still not allow you to remain in one location. But that’s okay! A person doesn’t come with a permanent location. You don’t have to be in one specific area of the world to feel at home. As long as those loving individuals surround you, you won’t ever have to feel homesick.
So I just wanted to give a shout out to my family, my friends from high school, my Creekers, and all of the new friendships I am forming at school, thanks for making me feel at home!
