Whether you move a hundred miles away, a thousand miles away, or even a trillion miles away, when you move away from home to go to college, being away months at a time can be hard. Home is truly where the heart is and nothing will ever change that. Nothing can ever take the place of where you grew up and where you left the people you love the most behind. While we should never forget our roots or where we came from, we should try to make college like a second home. We should make our apartment or even our dorm a home away from home, a placeholder until we can go back to where our heart belongs.

In order to make our temporary abode feel more homey, we should not only do what makes us happy, but keep things that make us feel happy in our new living space. You can keep your favorite snacks, pictures to remind you of your favorite memories, a stuffed animal you have had since you were a child, or even your favorite book in your dorm room or apartment to make you feel happy.

Just because we are away from home doesn't mean we can't do what we love the most. While college life can be busy and hectic, and we may not be able to stick to our old schedules strictly, we can still make some time to do what we did in our lives before college. You still can read, swim, play the piano, sing at the top of your lungs, take photographs, play with puppies, or do anything else that brings you joy. Even though you now have classes to attend, meetings beyond meetings to show up to, and tons of events to drop in, you still can fit in the hobbies you used to do back home. If most of your classes and events are in the morning and afternoon, stay up later and do what you love in the evening and at night. On the other hand, if all of your classes and events are late in the day, wake up early and do what you want to do then.

Lastly, to make college a home away from home surround yourself with the people who bring you joy and are fun to be around. Get out of your comfort zone and break out of your shell by meeting new people. Not everyone you meet and hang out with has to be your best friend or someone you always want to be around. Try testing the waters until you find the right people to spend your time with -- people that respect you for who you are and have a lot in common with you. Once you find people that you enjoy being around, they will feel like your family away from home. This means being away from home won't be so hard anymore.

No matter how far you're from home, I hope that you find a way to have your heart in two places at one time.