Written By Audrey Hazel
When I came to college, I left everything I held dearest to me 3000 miles behind in Oregon. The move was a difficult one, and there were many tearful hugs with close friends as I embarked on my journey into adulthood. Once on campus however, I felt a sense of power and freedom I had never felt before. For once I was in control of whatever I did, and whenever I did it. After a week or so of being completely immersed in college life, I didn’t want to go home until I absolutely had to. What was there for me in my hometown besides old ghosts?
By the time thanksgiving rolled around though, I had been through the wringer. College, I have found, is much more difficult than high school. I know, I know, this is a well-known fact. For me though, nothing to do with my schooling had ever truly been difficult, only time consuming. My school never had any final exams or midterms, and so my first couple rounds of exams here at Hopkins really took a toll on me. This coupled with a serious case of the freshman plague had me yearning for my mother’s comforting hugs and my dog’s unconditional love, not to mention my very comfortable queen size room that I have to myself back in Oregon.
I had made the decision not to go home for Thanksgiving back in August because I have family in Manhattan and the many hours of plane travel just didn’t seem worth it when I would be home for almost a full month at Christmas. While three weeks of school is a very short amount of time to get through between breaks, I found that I really missed my family back home. I spent the day with family, and I was loved and cared for, and I really have no complaints, but there is something to be said for being in your own bed, and spending some time with the people who you have always spent time with during the holiday season. Thanksgiving day itself was not terribly difficult, but the day after was pretty difficult for me. I wanted to be in my small town watching the Christmas parade put on every year with my best friends surrounding me, but instead I was in a bustling city that didn’t seem to slow down for the holiday season as I am used to.
I have accepted that while everyone tells you in high school that college is “moving on to the real world,” I am still just a kid who loves the holidays and needs a hug from my mom every now and then.