Like most college students, one of the things I always miss most when I’m away from home is my beloved pets. Most college students think fondly of their dog or their family’s cat or two. My situation is a little different, meaning that I don’t just have one pet cat, but 20 or so. It sounds like chaos (and it is, sometimes) but it’s my family’s own brand of chaos and it suits us well.
I should elaborate that my family doesn’t just own 20, but we foster them, meaning that many of those cats are kittens and are just staying with us until we can find them a forever home. It’s an endearing thing to do, and I always envy my mother for her empathy and dedication to helping animals. It’s always been her thing too, even since before we started fostering, my mom would take in stray cats, hurt baby bunnies, or anything else that needed a place to go or some help to get better.
So this isn’t an unusual thing for me, or for anyone else in my family, but when I tell people about my home, they are usually either immensely jealous, vaguely disgusted, or a combination of the two. Which I totally get, I mean, coming home is always a little bit of a culture shock, after living in a room where the closest thing to pets we have is the occasional spider or bee that will sneak in and try to take up residence.
Coming home can be stressful in some ways too. I’m not used to having so many people telling me what to do all of a sudden. College life allows for a lot of freedoms, and I love that so much. Coming home always kind of feels like reverting back to my high school life style, and that feeling scares me too.
So as one would expect, my home isn’t the cleanest place nor it isn’t the most organized place, but it is the only place I know of that has this much love in it. Snuggling with my pet cat Tony, or hugging my parents goodnight is what makes home, home for me. Coming back to my old bed forces me to relax in a way, to spend time focusing on what really matters. I can pet my cats or bake cookies in a fully stocked kitchen and forget about my English paper that is due in a few days in. I find it’s always good to get space away from your problems every once in a while, and home is that place for me, even if I do only live an hour away from campus.
Coming home is different for everyone, and I know it can be anxiety inducing for a lot of first year college students especially. My advice would be to just enjoy the time off while you can, and focus of comforting yourself with familiarity. I know things can seem so different after going away for so long, but it’s important to stay true to your roots as well.