I never saw growing up in South Florida as a luxury because I never knew what living anywhere else was like. That was until I returned from the cold that invaded my everyday life in College Park, Maryland on December 18th. Landing at the Fort Lauderdale airport wearing exceptionally furry uggs and long-sleeves was probably not the best idea because right when I stepped off the plane I was shvitzing. I definitely wasn’t in the 30 degree weather anymore. I had forgotten that where I grew up was somewhat of a tropical paradise.
People were asking me the biggest difference between Florida and Maryland, and as simple as it sounds I would say the foliage. When my dad picked me up in his convertible and we drove north on the turnpike, the palm trees gave me entirely new feeling and that was that I was really on vacation. Sure we don’t have white Christmases but I do have long days at the beach and the option to liberate my legs after their 3 months in hiding at school.
This was my whole thought process while I was driving home. I was thinking of how ridiculous I was in my youth that I didn’t take full advantage and go to the beach everyday when it was only 10 minutes from my house. I made a promise I would go to the beach whenever I could and visit Miami a couple times over break.
After the excitement of finally being home started to fade away, and I had gone to the beach once. I laid in bed and watched Grey’s Anatomy seasons one through eight on Netflix. I was not alone in my obsession with online television viewing, my friends were beginning to busy themselves with episodes of Homeland and Girls. Much had changed since high school, but what I wasn’t prepared for when I got home was that everyone just kind of wanted to chill and detox from their lives at school which everyone had agreed were stressful and consisted of a lot of late nights.
If we could get off the couch for long enough being with my friends from High School, although a strange adjustment at first was the same as always. One of my best friends had grown more and college made her outgoing which was entertaining. I am one of the few people from my High School that chose to go out of state. This became more difficult because I felt like all my friends were moving on without me. I thought they were developing new inside jokes and finding a replacement for me.
Over my winter break I realized that we all changed because we had to. In order to adapt to our new environments it was inevitable that we all became different people. We developed habits in our new lives whether it was putting on a heavier coat in the mornings or showing more of your true colors in social situations. As I fly back to DC after a month of being away I know that we have all changed, but I know when I return to paradise for spring break my best friends and I will find comfort in a bowl of popcorn and Friends reruns in my living room.