Moving away to college is certainly a pivotal moment in anyone’s life. Most of us are living in a community drastically different from the one we grew up in. You lose a support system in your family and friends at home that I, for one, was pretty dependent on.
The homesickness that most people discuss regarding college is felt in the first couple months away from home during this transition period. I, however, have found the past couple of months to be more difficult as I approach the end of my second year of classes.
It’s only now that I’ve truly realized how much my life is actually changing. I will never live at home again.
The part that makes me reflect is not the actual process of “growing up;” it’s how that process is not as bad as I thought it was going to be. And that’s pretty sad to think about.
I notice it in the small things: I call my college apartment “home.” I went from FaceTiming my mom and dad a couple times a week to once a week. I spend long weekends at school instead of making the two hour drive back to the suburbs of my home state.
Going home after being at school for so long is the toughest part about adjusting to adulthood because you get a small glimpse of how your life used to be. How your childhood used to be. How much you’ve changed in just two years.
I have about two months this summer to experience my childhood home one last time before I’m left with short trips, winter breaks, long weekends and holidays for the rest of my life, and that’s pretty heartbreaking.
I’ve signed a year-long lease in a different state. I’m starting a full time, six month co-op in July. My best friends live a 15 minutes walk away from me. I am building a life and support system here in Boston. It’s hard to realize that, in a way, I’m growing apart from my parents and siblings.
That’s weird to write, because in a sense, I’ve never felt closer to them.
I smile softly every night when my mom sends a “good night” text. I discuss my university’s hockey statistics and NHL predictions with my brother. I know my sister is always going to answer my calls when I need to talk to someone.
And I know that when I do go home, my sister and I will take weekly trips to the local library to check out books and pick out movies. My brother and I will probably fight as normal. My mom and I will run tiresome errands together, but we’ll talk the whole drive there. My dad will read the daily newspaper and cut out fun word searches for us to complete. He always saves the crossword for me to start, so I can do all the easy ones.
I will never live at home again long term, which is a hard thing to realize. It’s even harder, though, to accept that I’ve matured enough to be okay with that. I may be physically separated from my family, but I’ll always be close with them in one way or another. That is just one of the many lessons I’ve learned while adjusting to adulthood.