August was a long month. This year, it was probably my longest month. It felt never ending. The end of the month felt so far away.

I’m not the kind of person to wish away time. I am someone who strives to savor seconds, minutes, days. But I simply couldn’t wait for August to end.

The single month of August was filled with more life changes than I’ve been through in my entire life. I lived in my house for only nine days in August. On the night of August the 8^th, I told each one of my closest childhood friends goodbye. On the morning of the 9^th, I told my home, my street, and my little sleepy town goodbye. Two days later I moved into a new kind of “home” and I met a new group of friends. I drove down a new street; I found myself in a new sleepy town. Just a few short days felt like an entire year’s worth of change.

And so the new adventure began. New roommate, neighbors, coffee shops, pizza places, stop lights, faces and ice cream shops, all within the same month.

Three days later and my family was on an airplane back home. A family of four flying home with just three tickets. All within August.

Two days later and classes started. A new school, new teachers, new desks, new classmates, new white boards. All within the same month. It felt like weeks and weeks had gone by, and yet it was still August.

And then slowly, reality began to set in. The missing your best friend reality. The missing family dinner, missing your favorite food places, missing your nightly driving route kind of reality. And so you thought to yourself, “Surely it’s September by now. It must be October. So much time has passed, right?” And yet it was still August.

Time just felt so stagnant. Like I was stuck. August made me think about the goodbyes. Summers on the beach with my best friends. Family cookouts in my backyard. Aimless nights spent driving in circles with the windows down. And yet here I was, trying to start something new, but feeling so conflicted. Like I couldn’t really start because August means summertime, not school. It means starting a new grade with your forever friends, not thinking about which stranger to sit next to in your next class. August felt long and still and nothing felt real. Nothing felt permanent. August felt like a dream.

So I really can’t explain how excited I was for September to start because September means the fall. It means routine. It means something new. And it sets the tone for the rest of the academic year. It wasn’t until September 1 that this new place started to feel just a little bit like home.

So August, I am glad you are over. I am glad that the goodbyes and the moving and the uncertainty and the big changes are over. September, I am excited for you. I hope you bring cooler weather and changing leaves and lasting friendships and exciting football games and just a little bit of clarity as to what I’m doing with this new stage of life.