In February of this year, my family decided to move from New York to Connecticut. I had moved prior to this, so I knew what the process was like, but this time felt different. When I moved for the first time, I was in the middle of 5th grade, which felt unfair at the time because I was the new girl halfway through the school year and everyone already had their friends. I made do with that situation because I knew I had 6 more years ahead of me to make friends in school. The difference with this time was that I was away at college when my family moved and had to form a whole new life for myself all on my own when I came “home”. I knew it would be harder to make friends because I didn’t go to school there, but I worked with what I had.
If you had asked me about 3 months ago if I was happy living in Connecticut, I would’ve laughed in your face. I thought that I had no reason to be happy in a place that didn’t feel like home. I came home for spring break to a house I didn’t know, with my entire life in boxes next to my bed. I was far away from all of my friends, lived in a state I don’t think I’ve ever been to before, had to find a new job, find new friends, and start all over. With all of these cons at hand, I convinced myself that this would never be my home and I would just be counting down the days until I can go back to school.
Once the summer came, I knew I had to find a job because that would be my only source of finding people. Luckily, I found one almost immediately and got to meet new people. But somehow, even though I met so many people, the situation just reminded me of how it felt trying to make friends in 5th grade and knowing they already had their groups made. I felt like nobody would accept me or care to be my friend because well, they don’t have to.
If I can spread one piece of advice from my experience with moving, it would be this: accept change. If you don’t accept the things that come your way, you may never know the outcome of it. At first, I didn’t want to accept that this was my home, but that’s all part of being an adult. It doesn’t mean you have to move on from everything you know, but you can accept that new things will come your way. Even when it was hard finding people to spend time with, I spent time on myself and spent time with myself and honestly, you don’t understand how beneficial that can be for you.
If you find yourself in a new phase in your life, take chances. Talk to people you see at the grocery store, ask some coworkers to hang out over the weekend, and give people and things a chance because you never know who/what will come your way. You might just meet the person you want to spend all of your time with. But you’ll never know until you accept that the change is real and there’s no way of avoiding it. And now, I can finally say that I’ve made peace with my situation and I am finally happy in my new HOME.