Entering the college world is a new and exciting experience, especially if you attend a school away from home. You no longer have parents looking over your shoulder 24/7, and you’re basically free to do whatever you want. The first semester of freshman year is great because you’re just high on life most of the time, running around everywhere and enjoying this new-found freedom of the “adult life.” However, second semester does come, and it brings a different outlook to the table. The thing about that second semester of freshman year is that you’ve gone home for a couple of weeks, enjoying that familiar, warm home feeling that you’ve secretly been craving for four months. Going back to school is usually a relief, but there are times where you start to miss it a little. Then you begin to realize, like I did, that although your parents' home is still your home, it’s really not. You live somewhere else now, whether it’s a different city, a different state, or even a different country.

You’re in school for the long run. Once undergrad is over, grad school comes along and you have to pick up and move again. After that, you really are an adult, and you have to find a job; and, what about marriage? That’s always a possibility! You realize that this new stage of your life requires you to create a new home, and to recreate it several times over. It can be a little daunting, but don’t stress too much. The great thing about creating a home where ever you are is that there is a difference between “home” and “the place that you live.” Home is all about the feelings you have about your surroundings. It’s about your circle of friends and the atmosphere you place yourself in; creating a new home isn’t as bad as it seems at first. So, what’s the first step in all of this? My advice is to learn to be okay with yourself. Accept your quirks and your talents and what makes you you. Once you have that, you’ll attract the right people and all the right things. Make sure you know who your real friends are, and love them. You learn to rely on and accept those friends as family, because for now, they are. College is a time where you will meet your best friends for life, so hold on to them while you can. They’ll be the ones who make this time great.

Home isn’t so much your dorm room, though that is a big part of it! Home is about the atmosphere you create for yourself. It’s learning to take what you love from back home and integrating those things into your new home at school. Creating a new home can seem scary, but it’s not hard. So, take a deep breath, step back for a moment, and look around you. You might find that that your new home is already beginning to form.