At the beginning of the semester, I wrote an article about how I never get homesick. Now, that still hasn't changed -- I don't have a problem with being away from home whatsoever. However, sometimes it's important to go back to what used to be called "home" for 18 years.

College is tough. Life is tough. Sometimes, it gets really overwhelming to where you can't even hear yourself think over the loud white noise in your head. Although it is important to learn how to cope with stress on your own and become that "functioning adult" everyone keeps talking about, sometimes you just need your mom.

Home can be a great refresher. Laying on the couch in the living room with your parents and siblings while snuggling your pets can work a lot of wonders. It's very reminiscent of that childhood that, as a college student who is forced to file taxes and pay tuition, we just really want to have back.

When I was little and I got sick, I would always go over to my grandparents' house. That's pretty much because both of my parents had jobs and I wasn't old enough to stay home alone. But I have distinct memories of always being there when I was sick as a kid, and my grandma would always give me popcorn and sparkling peach water (because it had no caffeine or sugar).

Now, everytime I get sick at college, I always pop a bag of popcorn to "help my stomach" and I miss my grandma more than usual.

There's no shame in driving home because you're sad and just want your mom. Hell, I do it. I get home and just lay on her in the recliner like I did as a kid, which probably isn't the most comfortable for her, but she's my mom -- she doesn't care. She misses me, too. And she'll always be there for me, to hold me, when life just gets too much.

I could roadtrip halfway across the country and be gone for weeks and not miss being home. I just don't have that emotional connection to a home that makes me yearn to be there. That's okay, too, because I know I can always run home when I need to.

It's important to go home every now and then. Not constantly, because then you become dependent on home and never really grow as an individual, but just every so often. More than just Thanksgiving and Christmas. Your parents are there for you when it feels like no one else is, and they'll always be there to comfort and hold you. My parents have been telling me this for 19 years, and I just now listened.