One thing that no one prepares you for before coming to college is visiting home on the weekend.Â
The first weekend I came home was Labor Day weekend. All of my roommates were going home so I decided to as well. When I walked into my room, it felt different. It felt like it was my childhood room which it technically was but it had never felt like that before. It felt like the place where I had many sleepovers. The place where I watched shows while doing school projects on the floor. The place where my best friends and I held our after-prom and graduation sleepovers. The room I walked into felt like a model of where I spent my middle and high school years. My room did not feel like I slept in it every night, got up to go to school, and then came back to it. Seeing my room also fills me with joy. I am someone who enjoys my alone time so being by myself is amazing to me. It also excites me to think of the great memories in my room and to know that I will still have sleepovers with my best friends in my room and not just be alone there.Â
Right when I got home I ran straight to my dog and hugged him. Before I left for college, I was all over the place and completely forgot to say goodbye to him. This made me excited to see him again. Later during the weekend when I had been petting my dog. I had noticed all of the grays that were on his ears. I of course knew he was getting older but seeing the gray hair on him made me realize that he is not going to be here forever. My dog is one of my favorite things in the whole world. I see him as a part of my family and not just a pet. Coming home made me realize that there will be a time when I come home and do not see him. But for right now, he is alive and well, and I can see him and pet him.
When I arrive back at college, I feel saddened about the thought of not being at home. This feeling always returns when I come back no matter what I did that weekend. It does not matter if I did nothing while I visited home or if I saw my best friends. I feel like I just want to stay at home forever. The first weekend at home I struggled a lot and looked up if I could commute from my house to West Chester. At the beginning of college, I was frustrated with someone who was in the same suite as I was. This brought up a lot of anxiety for me going back to campus and dealing with them. Only recently has the tension been lessened. Now when I am headed back to college I look forward to going back to my suite. Going back to my dorm also fills me with excitement. My roommates are amazing and I have the best laughs with them.Â
Some of the things that help me not to want to go home all the time are looking forward to events, being on the phone with family occasionally, and thinking of what is good in life.
One thing that helps me get over the longing of going home over and over again is looking forward to different things with them. I look forward to watching different shows with my roommates and getting dinner together. Another thing that I recommend doing to not miss your home is being on the phone with your family occasionally. One night after I got back to school I felt like I was being left out on different things but talking to my mom made me realize I was not missing out on anything. My family was doing the same things they did every night when I was there. The last thing I do is just take a moment to think about what I am grateful for. It helps me increase my mood because many people think of the negative while feeling sad. I like to think about my weekend at home and how much I enjoyed it. For instance, on my way back from one of my best friend’s college I focused on the memories of seeing her dorm and campus. I also focused on the four-hour road trip with another best friend to go visit her and the memories I made from our adventure to the other side of the state. I did not think that the next time all three of us would be together would be at the end of November. It seems cliche to say focus on the positive instead of the negative but truly that’s what I believe while coming back to college.Â
If you are dreading coming back to college, you will be okay. Everyone gets situated into college at their own time and pace. Do not worry if you are still not fully comfortable at college, you will be someday.