What happens when your hometown is two hours away from where you study? The struggle is very real. When you’re a freshman, living far away from home and being almost fully independent seems like the greatest thing in the world. Nobody rushing you, eating whatever you please, sleeping as much as you want… Just finally being on your own in the adult world. By the second month of my freshman year at college, I understood the reality of being far away from home: it’s a real struggle. You don’t realize all the things you have to do, as an adult, while living on your own. You have to remember to cook, buy groceries, throw out the trash, wash your clothes, wash your dishes, prepare your bags for going back home on the weekend… And all of that has to be done while being a student. Some students have the advantage of living close to campus, not having to worry about anything I just mentioned, but others, like me, need to take upon that adult world that’s alot more frightening that we’d thought. The scenario where I mop my floor with one hand, while reading some notes about class with the other one, is a cycle that goes on repeat for days.
It gets harder when you need to prepare for the trip back home. Spasms and back pains tend to happen due to the giant bags full of everything you need to spend your weekend at home, or wherever your nomad life takes you. The long drives sometimes aren’t so tedious if you carpool some friends, but the two-hour drive alone constitutes in the most boring experience ever. Music sometimes helps, but entering Cayey probably kills every opportunity of getting some good signal on your Hot 102 station or good service for your Pandora account. The only thing that keeps me going is the thought of that big plate of comida de casa: arroz, habichuelas, chuletas and tostones, maybe with a slice of aguacate, since living alone doesn’t usually provide with such glamorous and delicious food. Being Chef McDonald’s, Chef El Mesón, and Chef Pollo Tropical some of the best foods you can provide yourself with (unless you have great cooking skills).
Going back to campus after a weekend at home can be a bittersweet experience. Taking the long drive with your bags usually heavier, since your parents think that three aguacates and five plátanos are crucial for your survival, next to the lavender smelling Fabuloso and the quenepas for when you get the munchies but want to be healthy about it (we’re really very grateful for all of those things. Thanks, Mom and Dad). But when arriving at your dorm or apartment, whether you have roommates or you’re a lone wolf, you realize that you actually missed your little refrigerator with only 4 things inside it, your unmade bed and the tranquility of being on your own. That’s the moment when you finally understand that it doesn’t matter where you come from because college becomes such a special place that it will feel like a second home.
College is being yourself. College is your unmade bed, your giant laundry basket, college is managing your money and your time. College is all-nighters, energy drinks, 2am munchies. College is running to your next class, jueves de jangueo, 7am class after jangueo. College is buildings, tests, pages, pens…But you and I know that it is so much more. College is inherent, what it is and how it influences you creates you, calls you into existence. College is you existing, being yourself, in all your unique and astonishing glory.