Being homesick is never something I like to admit to feeling. As an almost 20-year-old college student, sometimes, it’s hard for me to confess that I miss home.
I thought that coming to college would be the best thing in my entire life. The independence, the late nights, the new experiences, and the list goes on. Everyone always says that college is supposed to be the best four years of your life, too. So why would I expect anything less? Why would I miss home when I have so many new opportunities and adventures waiting for me?
Don’t get me wrong, coming to college has been so amazing in so many ways. I’ve made lifelong friends, taken interesting classes, and broken out of the shell I hid in throughout high school. But sometimes, when it’s late at night and my roommate is asleep, I begin to miss being able to walk into my sister’s room to talk about everything and nothing in the middle of the night.
Other times, when I’m sitting in the dining hall, I begin to miss having dinner with my mom and listening to her jokes that never fail to make me laugh. I really miss home when I hear people yelling in the hallway of my building, but they aren’t the familiar voice of my younger brother that I can hear playing video games from the thin wall that separates our rooms.
If I am being honest, being homesick sucks. Especially when the feeling seems to creep up on you in the least convenient moments. The moments where I am supposed to be making the best memories of my life. The moments that I am supposed to be having fun. No one warned me that, while I can love my new life, I can long for the old one.
Luckily, being homesick has taught me to savor every moment that I am home with my family. I have begun to crave the random weekends that I drive home and cherish every moment that I spend with my family.
Weekly FaceTime calls and photos hung in my dorm help me to miss them less sometimes. Additionally, it has also taught me to live more in the moment. If I am stressed about school or work, then I am not really enjoying spending time with my family.
On the contrary, if I linger on being homesick, then I am not enjoying all the opportunities and experiences that college has presented me with. There seems to be somewhat of a strange comfort in the ache I feel for my home; it’s proof that I’m lucky enough to have a home worth missing.