If you were to tell my freshman year self that I wouldn’t want to go home for the summer, I would’ve called you clinically insane. As an almost junior in college (I hate to even say that), I don’t want the semester to end.
Freshman year was an incredibly hard and pivotal year for me. It was full of ups and downs, lots of downs and figuring out myself and a life in a new place without the people I had grown up with. It’s safe to say that last spring, I was counting down the days to return home for summer and to the life I so comfortably knew.
After a needed and refreshing summer returning to the place I will forever call home, I came back to State College determined to make this a place I would also call home. And it’s safe to say that this year I certainly did.
Sophomore year of college has easily been the best year of my entire life. I have found my lifelong friends, organizations that are important to me and the pure happiness that Penn State has provided me. I don’t think I have ever been happier or prouder of the life I am living.
So, since the best year of my life is quickly coming to a close, it can go without saying that I don’t want the semester to end, and I don’t want to leave State College. I, of course, want to see my hometown friends and family, but Penn State has truly become the place I always want to be.
Just today, I was on the phone with my mom catching up, and I explained to her how devastated I am that the school year is ending and how I am almost halfway through college. She, of course, understood and consoled me by explaining that these emotions of sadness are nothing but a reflection of the happiness in my life.
What a blessing in disguise it is to be devastated to leave State College for just three months. I know I will be back in no time, yet I’m still so upset to leave my friends and this place behind. And for that reason, I am so unbelievably lucky.
With all this being said, of course, there is a huge part of me that can’t wait to reconnect with my first ever home and the people that have been by my side since a young age. The life I was first given back in my hometown will always be something I reflect on fondly and want to revisit from time to time.
Even though I want nothing more than for the year to not come to an end, it’s also important not to rush away the summer just because I want to be back in State College. I’m making it my mission this summer to enjoy every day at home with family and friends, and in the place I will always consider home. We will all be back in no time, so I am going to try my hardest not to wish away the time.
So what I’m trying to say is that it’s okay to grow. It’s ok to find a life outside the one given to you. And it’s okay to find a new home.