As I lay on my aunt’s brown leather couch with a Christmas themed blanket wrapped around my body and my head on top of a Blue’s Clues pillow that is older than me, something hit me. It was like a light went off in my head. It was Father’s Day, and I was absolutely exhausted from being up for work that day at five thirty in the morning and attending a wedding the night before. I arrived at my aunt’s house in New Jersey, and I immediately greeted my family with kisses and father’s day wishes. I then proceeded to the living room to find a comfy spot on the couch to drift away into a nap on. As I lay on the couch, I listened to the soothing voices of my family members and the classic music of artists such as Frank Sinatra, Bobby Darin, and Frankie Valli play in the background. I was shocked that I was not annoyed by the noisiness of the household – rather, I was delighted to hear the sounds of laughter and happiness in my family’s tones. Perhaps after being away from my family while I was at college, I missed their presence much more then I had realized.

After being away at college for only one year, I can say that I have learned much more about myself and also about other people. When I first moved onto my college campus, my main goal was to have a good social life – meaning making as many friends as possible and going out at almost every opportunity I had. As much as I hate to admit it, making friends was much more challenging then I had expected it to be. There were many nights I spent eating dinner alone, had no one to do homework with, and no one called me to see what I was up to. Walking through the dining halls at night and seeing friend groups have dinner together was like taking a bullet and listening to how close my dorm neighbors were made me feel as though I was miles away from everyone around me. It felt as though the whole campus was genuinely happy except for me.

On the many lonely nights that occurred, I found that the only people who made an effort to lift my spirits were my three best friends from home and even more so, my family members. I must admit that I am not the type of person to be “home sick,” and I have never been the type of kid who felt attached to my parents or other family members, but on nights that I was feeling very low, I could always count on a family member to talk me out of my low. I realized at school who my real friends from home are, how important family truly is and that they are the people who will always be there.

So, I realized that it doesn’t matter that I do not “fit-in” on my college campus or have many friends -- what matters is that I am independent and have people who really care about me and love me. At the end of the day, all a person really needs is love.