It's what everyone looks forward to, going home after a few months of endless studying and papers, to sleep in your own bed, eat actual food, and see your family & friends. And honestly, I expected it to feel like I was home and that nothing has changed. Entirely untrue. I hadn't been home in exactly three months, although I had talked to my parents at a minimum of every other day throughout the time I was at school.

When my plane landed, I was filled with excitement and anticipation to see my family and be in the comfort of my home and sleep in my own bed. Being reunited with my family was amazing, and I was so happy to see them. As I got home and walked inside, it felt different. In a weird sense, it was not familiar. Things were just, different. And when I went up into my room, there were boxes of storage placed in my room and most of my stuff was back in my dorm room at school. I had a duffle bag of clothes I brought home for the weekend and everything that was in my room, was stuff from when I was younger. It was weird, although just 4 short months ago I was living here, day in and day out. Yet now, after I moved most of my stuff out, it seems like a whole other room, like everything was from so long ago.

Once I saw the rest of my family, I realized that I was now an adult, independent. Questions about jobs, summer internships, whether or not I will return home after college, my major, my future. And when it was time for me to leave, it was "It was nice seeing you" and "See you in a few months."

It was a weird feeling realizing that I no longer really have a permanent home, for 4 months of the year I'll be back in my hometown then the other 8 months of the year I'm at school. However, this summer I will not be returning home because I got hired for an internship across the country. So my first year of college is spent entirely away from home. And probably next year, I'll spend summer here at school.

What they don't tell you about coming home, is that when you left for college, it marks the beginning of your adult life, and once you come back, you are just visiting. When you come home, it does feel different. But with good reason, and although it is sad to see things so different at home, it's comforting that your family is always there, even when you only physically see them for a short time of the year. It is a good marker of how far you've come, matured, and grown, in the short time since Graduating High School.