After my family left me alone in my dorm room the day I moved into college, I sat in the corner of my room and cried for half an hour. I was already homesick. I couldn’t see how I would make it through four years of being away from my home four hours away. Saint Vincent seemed welcoming enough, but I couldn’t see how I could ever love it here more than my home and my family. And I was right.
Fast forward a year and a half, and I am thriving at Saint Vincent. My classes, work studies, clubs, and friends keep me busy every week. There are some weeks that I don’t have time to call my family because I am swamped with work and things to do here on campus! I love Saint Vincent and I believe that it will provide me with a great start to my future and career after school.
However, being away from my family and home has made me realize how much they both mean to me. Before leaving for college, I wanted to live anywhere in the world except where I grew up. I have always loved my family more than anything else, but through the life changing experiences I have had the past year, I see now that they are my rock and source of strength. Being away from the only things I’ve ever known allowed me to see them with a new perspective. I know that I don’t have to go home on random weekends throughout the semester or live near my family in the future, but as of right now I don’t have a reason I wouldn’t do just those things.
Sometimes you need to take a step back from your life to see what is really the most important to you. Before moving away from home, my family and home was all I ever knew. I wanted to experience other places and people, and I believed that going to college would somehow transform me into a person who didn’t miss their family all the time. But I know now that I can never leave the place where I belong and the people who love me. I still get homesick, and I wish I could see my brothers and sister everyday after school. Whenever I need advice or am struggling, the first people I want to talk to is my mom and dad. Hearing their voices say, “I love you” through the phone when I feel lost or lonely is the most comforting feeling in the world. I know that no matter what happens in my life, I will always have their loving arms to come home to. I know that I can always hop on the Pennsylvania turnpike and drive home to see the place where I grew up. I know that wherever life takes me, I have a home and a family that I belong to and am loved by.