When I left home, the leaves were green, the sun would set around 8:00 pm, and I had no idea what college would be like. Now, as I sit here in my cozy living room back home, the leaves are multi-colored and falling from the trees, the sun sets around 6:00 pm, and I have been through one and a half months of college. Many college students, myself included, visit home for the first time since the semester had begun over “Fall Break”. It was an easy decision to come home for the long weekend seeing how I live only two hours away from campus, and I was really missing my family and friends back home.
It’s like some strange time warp. The last time I was at my house it was 75 degrees and sunny, but when I returned it was 50 degrees and raining. For the first time in my life, I didn’t witness the transition from summer to fall, I just returned and fall had already arrived. It feels like I missed out on something, but I didn’t. I was just watching the transition happen at a newer, unfamiliar place, college.
Leaving for college has taught me what home really means. While in high school, I loved going out with my friends and being far from my house as much as possible. Since going to college I’ve realized how much I love my home and my family because, for the first time, I miss it all. It’s a feeling you don’t experience until you leave home for the first time, you don’t miss home while you’re still living there. You only miss something once you realize it’s gone, and that’s how I felt the first couple weeks of college.
However you are feeling over this fall break, overwhelmed, nostalgic, relieved, or confused, know that it’s normal. Chances are that you’ve felt more emotions than ever since college has begun, and you’re allowed to feel this way for as long as you need to. Just remember, your home will always be there waiting for you to come back, and ready to learn all about how college has been.