For many people, adjusting to college and living away from home can be challenging. The busy campus, demanding coursework, and making new friends can all be exciting at times, but they can also be overwhelming. Amidst all this bustle and change, it is completely normal to yearn for the familiar.Â
Growing up, bagels were a staple in my household, and being from New Jersey, I may be a little biased. A freshly baked bagel covered in a thick layer of cream cheese… What more could you ask for? However, bagels remind me of the comfort and stability of being at home. They are a concrete connection to being at home on a Sunday morning with my family. Throughout most of my life, my family and I would go to the bagel shop down the street every weekend. The entire house would smell like freshly baked bagels. For me, they represented harmony and tranquility within the family. While at school, I felt at home again seeing bagels at the dining hall because they reminded me of all these wonderful memories. It was an inviting and familiar sensation. Bagels became a little slice of home while being in a completely new place.Â
Ultimately, it is critical to find comfort during times of change by finding something unique to you; whether it be bagels or something else that makes you think of home, no matter where you are in life, look for those comforting and familiar things. It is a way to carry a piece of your identity with you… even if it is as simple as a bagel! It may just be the secret to feeling more at home.