Hi again! A major thing I learned going away to school is how much I really appreciate my family.
In high school I was hardly ever home because I had school, then dance practice, then homework- that I did in my room with the door closed.
On weekends, I had dance competitions or was hanging out with friends. It’s not that I hated my family or my house; I just liked having something to do.
Before I left for IU in the fall, my parents would ask me at dinner if I was going to miss my family and I would always say no. At the time I didn’t realize what it meant to not be with them all of the time.
My mom came to visit this past weekend, and I forgot how good it felt to just hang around with her. It then made me miss all of my siblings and Dad. I realized I missed watching E! with my sisters or going to my brother’s soccer game or hearing my nephew’s Xbox gibberish or my dad calling me Elizabeth (my middle name).
The saying “home is where the heart is” really makes sense to me now.
I look forward to the weekends I can be home and sit on the couch or eat dinner with everyone. I can’t believe I’m actually writing this for the Internet world to see because I will never live it down.
College is a great and crazy experience, but in the words of my mom’s favorite singer Bon Jovi, “Who says you can’t go home?”
-Nicole the Freshman