My freshman year in college, I only went home for holidays in the fall semester, and I took the train home on weekends during the spring semester. I started my sophomore year with my own car, with the mindset that I would go home whenever I wanted to. Since the beginning of the semester, I have gone home a total of four times. Going home isn't an easy task, considering I live almost three hours away. It has to be planned out, and I have to make sure it doesn't interfere with missing classes. I'm not writing this to tell you about my three-hour drive, or what it's like being able to up and leave to go home. There is a stigma that once you go to college, you should only be coming home for breaks, and that's it. I'm writing to tell you that it's okay to go home.

It's okay to go home. It's okay to want your mom's home cooked meals, or in my case, my aunts (sorry mom). It's okay to want to have the comfort of your own home, your bed, your house, and the ability to shower without flip flops on. It's okay to want to snuggle up with your pets. It's okay to want to see the friends who didn't go away for college, before the holiday rush of everyone else coming home and wanting to see them.

You do not need a reason to want to go home. I never gave anyone a reason, unless I didn't want to go home, but I needed to be there. College is so much fun, and you should be there for good times, but going home is not the worst thing you can do. You missing the same party, at the same house for one weekend is not the end of the world. Going home is okay; wherever you are, your home is important, so don't ever think it's not okay to make your way back from time to time.