One of the most nerve-wracking times of your life comes when you have to decide where you want to go to college. For some people, it will be a ten-way-tie between so many wonderful schools that they don’t know what to do with themselves. For others, they will know they have found the right school the instant they step on campus for the first time. Whatever happens and however your college process goes, one of the most beautiful moments is when you are going about your daily life and suddenly realize that your college is no longer just a school you attend and a dorm you live in. It has become your home.
College is a scary time because (for the most part) you are entering a brand new city full of people you haven’t met and places you haven’t seen. It’s exhilarating to realize you have so much newly-found independence, but it’s also scary to have to develop a brand new life for yourself. Over time, it will happen on its own. You'll find a job, meet new people, make great memories, start a bucket list, decorate an apartment, and spend late nights driving through the city. Suddenly, you realize that you have developed a new life in a place that you can now call "home." It will hit you when you go home for Thanksgiving break and feel weird because your childhood house doesn’t quite feel as homey as your dorm does. You miss the familiar scenery and friendly faces from college, and you are struck with the realization that your new home is no longer the place in which you grew up. It’s now your university and surrounding town. It’s where you feel safe, where you have fun, where you’ve laughed and cried and grown as a person. Especially in a time period where we are transitioning from teenagers to adults, finding a place where you can thrive is so important. When you find this place, don’t hesitate for one second to call it home.
So, thank you, CMU. Thank you for giving me a wonderful freshman year experience and helping me find my new home. I can’t even begin to count how many wonderful memories I have made here this year: late nights watching basketball in Brownson Arena and early mornings watching baseball at Suplizio, hearing cars honk as they drive down 12th whenever there is a soccer or lacrosse game being played, walking into Starbucks and not having to say anything because the baristas already know my name and order (still not sure if this should make me feel proud or shameful), hearing the final call for the library closing and laughing because I know I will be in the 24 hour room for two more hours, trying to casually catch my breath after walking up to class on the third floor of Escalante, watching the sky go pink as the sun sets behind the Mesa each night, seeing the fountain filled with bubbles after someone decided it would be funny to pour soap in there for the fourth weekend in a row, falling asleep on the quad while trying to stay up for Relay for Life, going to the gym on Thursday nights and hearing loud laughter coming from the Young Life room, meeting a new person every day and always having people smile at you while you walk through campus, dodging frisbees while walking to class and accidentally interrupting someone’s game of frolf. The little things that seem like a normal routine have become things that I look forward to, and things I am so very appreciative of. They are quirky and can almost become unnoticeable, but they have allowed me to feel at home, and I could not ask for anything more.
When your college becomes your home, three months away over summer break seems like a lifetime. Don’t get me wrong; I am so excited to spend summer with my friends and family in the place where I grew up. But, on the other hand, I already can’t wait to come back for another year of great memories and even greater people.
