Going into college, I knew it would be different. What I didn’t expect was that going home for the first time would be just as different.
I went home last weekend to go to an eye appointment that I couldn’t get into before I left for college. I had been looking forward to this weekend for ages: a real bed, a real shower, non-Peirce food, my family, and my best friend (who was also coming home from her college in Wisconsin). The week leading up to the weekend was my most stressful week yet, and I couldn’t wait to crawl into my own bed with my cat and sleep away the stress.
On the actual day, though, as my mom texted me to tell me she was officially on her way from Indianapolis, I found that I didn’t really want to leave. I was still excited to see my family and friends, of course, but I didn’t feel the same need to leave as I had my first few weeks here. I had settled into a kind of routine, and I was strangely worried that going home for the weekend might upset that routine and throw everything that had been so nicely in balance into chaos.
While the weekend thankfully did not throw everything into chaos, it was a little different from what I expected. Here are some takeaways from my experience:
Packing was difficult
I realized that I had grossly overestimated how many clothes I had left at home and ended up not bringing any pajamas with me. While this was easily fixed with a quick run to Target, it was strange to pack for a visit home and to realize that the constants that I had always associated with home might not be there for me when I got back.
I missed college
It was weird to be at home and feel homesick for something else. As much as I loved seeing my family and sleeping in my own bed, I missed Peirce meals (the conversation, not the food) with my Kenyon friends and studying on the Ascension couches. It made coming back on Sunday a lot easier!
Life went on without me
As blindingly obvious as this sounds, it was still weird to hear my little brother talking about things that I hadn’t been there to witness, like trying out and making the high school wrestling team or getting his first detention. Life at home hadn’t been frozen while I had been at Kenyon, and with everyone’s busy schedules, some things had slipped his mind during our FaceTime calls. But, this certainly made catching up even more interesting.
Things didn’t feel normal right away
I had expected to feel right at home in, well, my home, but it was still a little strange at first. Hearing my family joke about things I didn’t understand and seeing the way my mother had redecorated my room in my absence made me feel a little like an outsider. This only lasted for a few hours, though, and quickly we slipped into the same sort of jokes and conversations that I was used to.
One pizza, three meals out at my favorite restaurants, two showers, a trip to the apple orchard, and two nights in my own bed later and I was back at Kenyon. Like I said, I was very excited to come back to Kenyon and see everyone and everything I had left behind in my two-day absence. It was still a little difficult saying goodbye to my mother for the second time. It was comforting, though, to know that no matter how far away from Indiana I go, home will always be there for me.
Image Credit: Hannah Byron, Zionsville Development, Kenyon College