I'm writing this as I'm feeling very sentimental about leaving my beloved college town for the summer. As I'm hugging my friends goodbye and packing all of my belongings into boxes, I find myself getting asked the same question over and over again, "What are you doing this summer?" Naturally, I answer with "I'm going home."
But the more I say it, the weirder it sounds because home is no longer the town where I graduated high school or where my parents live. Home is right here.
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All of the attachment I felt towards my hometown was due to the fact that it's where my parents decided to raise me. We moved when I was very young and I had no choice in the matter. But it had good public schools and our neighborhood was very safe- there was no reason for them to choose not to live there. I called it home because it was all I had known for a very long time. It was where I had attended elementary, middle, and high school. It was the place I had packed up to come to college in the first place.
Yet they say that "home is where the heart is" and my heart is in my college town. This is the place that I pushed myself to try new things, where I was out of my comfort zone and forced to take care of myself for once. This is the place that I met my closest friends who make my sides hurt from laughter and offer their shoulders as my own personal tear-sponge. This is also the place that I met the truest friends- and realized that some of my ties in high school were superficial and dependent on close proximity. This is the place where I found my calling (even though personally, it took two tries) and realized that education can be exciting (and that I might even look forward to going to class). This is the place where I joined new groups, learned how to appreciate people from all walks of life, and where I learned to just let go. I found my happiness and myself here.
So what am I doing this summer? I'm staying in my old bedroom with my parents in their good old suburban town halfway across the country. I'm spending quality time with family and catching up with some of my former classmates. And I'm also leaving home for three months- leaving my heart somewhere else- but it's okay because I know I'll always return. It's my place now.
