“What’s home?” I still remember the girl I met on one of the day tours we took in Italy last summer asking me this question. She didn’t ask me where I’m from, or where I live, but rather, where home was. And it got me thinking about what home is. I think most of us have spent our lives under the assumption that home is the place at which we live, or the place from which we hail. But is that really the case? Coming to college really broadened my understanding of home, and to add cliché to this article, I’ve finally started understanding that home truly is where the heart is.

Home, to me, is a blend of the houses, people, locations and memories I’ve made in my 19 years. Home is more than just my hometown, it is more than where I reside, and it is more than a location. One year ago, I began my time at Rutgers University. The people I met at Rutgers made me feel more at home in New Brunswick than some of those from the very place in which I grew up. The remarkable thing about home is that it doesn’t need to be a house, a person, a location, or a specific place; it can be all or even none of those things. Home is what and who you want to come back to, it is the closest we have to a “happy place,” a safe haven and our small utopias. You can spend your whole life at a place without making it your home, or you can spend a week in a town you may never want to leave. You can feel more at home in an old, slightly broken-down apartment than you ever will in the mansion of your dreams. Home is not a building, it is not one specific town, and it is not one particular idea. Ultimately, home is a concept that extends far past a house.

When that girl asked me where home was, I responded with my hometown, out of habit. If she were to ask me that today, perhaps I would add a few more places and a few more people to my idea of home. I am lucky enough to have lived in a house with my family, a house that I can call home. But that doesn’t apply to everyone, and that’s okay. A huge part of growing up and finding yourself is finding the things and people that make you at home. Home is an evolving concept, one that changes as we change, and grows as we grow. Once you find those who make you happy and that which puts you at ease, home can be anywhere in the world. We as humans have the incredible ability to adapt to situations and surroundings. We become comfortable easily, perhaps to a fault, but comfortable nonetheless. So if you ask me my hometown, you’ll get a standard answer. But ask me what home is, that response is far from simple.