The transformation from high school to college has always seemed like such a difficult and confusing time; however, I felt as though I was the exception, due to the fact that I live Grand Rapids and my hometown is about 30 minutes from the Allendale campus. All of my friends were ready to pack up and move to East Lansing, Ann Arbor, and some even to Alabama--but I was still here. The original feeling of gratitude about my college being so close to home quickly changed into regret.
As the summer withered away, I deeply felt that my decision to stay close to home was a misguided choice. Hey, what did I know? I applied only to Grand Valley and I was accepted the second day of my senior year; I had wanted to go to Grand Valley since I was a freshman in high school. Up until a couple of months before school started, I was so excited for my new life to begin. It shifted once people started saying things like “I can’t wait to leave Grand Rapids and start fresh in a new city,” or, “______ is my home now.” I started thinking that maybe I couldn’t find myself if I stayed in the place that I’ve been for my whole 18 years of life; even though I was going to live in a dorm on campus, I felt that nothing would change.
Why was I all of a sudden obsessed by the idea that I could only have a college experience if I were far away from home?
Since the summer was coming to a close, my friends all wanted to do things in Grand Rapids that they weren’t going to be able to do until at least Thanksgiving break. As we explore the Downtown Market on Ionia St., it came to me: Why would I want to leave this place anyway? If I went to school someplace else, would I be a bus ride away from one of the most thriving cities in the U.S.? Would I be able to visit my home for a special occasion without it being a huge burden to my family and me? How could I have been so ungrateful for such a great opportunity to explore my home in new ways with new people?
I finally understand that even if the school I am going to is close to home, that doesn’t mean that nothing will change, that nothing will be new. College is a time to try new things and to “find yourself.” Why wouldn’t I want to do those things in a place that is already considered home? Grand Rapids was a great place to grow up, and I couldn’t be more excited and anxious to thrive there.
