It's done. I finished my Freshman year of college. And now it's time for.....what?

Many students ask themselves that very question, with no idea what to do with themselves now that every moment of their day isn't taken up with academia. Other students have every second of their summer planned, with no mind for their education while the sun is out. Either way, the task of leaving school and friends and private moments that one learns their most important lessons is bittersweet. If you stay at school (and you can't stay) you would always wonder when your break would come, and your family, and your freedom. But, if you come home, you may find yourself asking nearly the same questions, only changing the first: when will my sense of daily duty, purpose come back? When will I get to see my college family again? When will my freedom come?

It is a fascinating relationship, the student to their home and to their college. Both are home, and at the same time, both are not. Your home is not because now you are leaving, and your college is not because you will not stay forever.

But, summer is here now, and there is much to do, and one must make their own meaning and their own adventures. I, myself, will be continuing my education by way of books, writing, documentaries, practically anything I can get my hands on that will teach me.

I will spend time by the ocean and the forest, or go on long drives and watch the nature of my home fly by. I will see family and friends and enjoy the feeling that is home, a feeling very unlike any other as, no matter what, there is a part of it that is always the same. You may change, and have after college, and home seems different because of it, but it will always be home, a time capsule of feelings a moments that one comes back to to reflect on and continue the adventure.

So, to the others finishing their Freshman year, congratulations and good luck with your new summer freedom. I hope you continue to find yourself just as you did in school, and that you make just as many memories to savor when it comes time to pack up your books at eight in the morning and walk to your first class on an August morning.