Coming home.

As if leaving with the reality that the next four years, and frankly the rest of our lives wasn't enough of a weird concept, now, many college students are faced with the reality of an even more peculiar encounter, coming home.

I have done the "coming home" process many of times. However, this time it was different than it was before with summer camp, trips away and other encounters that may have displaced me before. Now, the reality that home may no longer be what we defined it just a little over a month ago changes our experience.

Upon seeing one of my sister's and attempting to relive our days at home by screaming songs out the window on back roads for coffee runs she exclaimed something to me, almost suddenly.

"Christine, what do you call home now? Bucknell or you know...here?'

I was stumped. It was this odd blend of exciting and saddening to think that yes, a place that has only been a part of me for this brevity of time is of enough comfort and happiness that yes, I do in fact find myself often mistakenly, but also almost by nature, calling it home.

However, as I thought of how to answer her innocent question I also realized that while my new home is this utopia of fun, friendship, laughs and scenic beauty, it will never replace real home. Every moment; the countless family dinners, the excited scampering of your dog as he remembers you very face and scent, trips, exploring with friends and somehow growing up along the way are all a part of the bigger picture that makes home, and also coming back to it all the more important. For it's my home back in my little corner of Pennsylvania that shaped me and sent me out into the world to discover these new "homes." And for that I thank home for everything.