There are few feelings that compare to the moment when you cross the final day of your calendar and it hits you: YOU'RE GOING HOME! Whether it be a few weeks, months or even the majority of a semester, sometimes we simply need to escape from the stresses of school work, the hit or miss concoctions created by the dining hall, and the cloud of drama that often seems to loom over our lives at college. But after the initial joy of hugs and warm embraces upon your arrival subside, you come to the realization that things might not be exactly the same as you left them, and truth is you might not be either.
Walking into your room might come with a surprise, it might not look EXACTLY the way you left it. You may find that in the months your room was vacant, someone finally decided to complete the task of cleaning it that you always said you'd "get to eventually" but fully planned to continue "cleaning" by stuffing everything in a drawer until it overflows. This may lead to endless rounds of hide and seek with your new clean room that smells more like a lemon cleaner than your favorite flavor of potato chips, but trust me that one necklace you are in desperate search of IS there somewhere.
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As you begin to tour the rest of your house, it's often not the familiar things that stick out to you, but the things that are new. Although that new couch may be modern, you secretly miss the old couch that had little fuzz balls underneath and that tiny makeup smear you were sure your parents never knew about (plot twist: they did).
That brand new high definition TV that comes with the need for not one but to separate clickers to operate may have a clear picture, but learning how to operate its new functions may be difficult. As you begin to discover these new aspects of your home, you may feel as foreign as that new semi-creepy picture that inhabits the bathroom that simply doesn't belong.
The most difficult thing about coming home after being away is you come to the realization that the lives of your family have gone on with out you. As you sit at dinner, you listen to your families' stories, and you realize that you are no longer a staple figure in them. It might seem odd that your siblings, and yes, even your parents have made plans and done actual fun activities even in the absence of your wonderful presence. This and all of the above reasons can lead you to wonder if your home is still actually your home after all.
Although many of these changes seem extremely obvious, there is often one change that is harder for you to see: you have changed. It might not be evident to you but to your family it is a process to get to know the person whose stories are filled with unfamiliar strangers, who looks and dresses differently, and who thinks it is a perfectly acceptable idea to take a shower at one in the morning.
You must realize that although it may take some time for your family to accept the stranger who now inhabits the body of a person they once knew better than anyone, it doesn't mean they don't love and accept you (dyed red hair and all).
Well that weekend home, fall break and even summer vacation eventually come to an end and your back inside your dorm room that acts as your home away from home. Looking around your dorm room, it may seem different.
It is true that no one came in and replaced your bed while you were gone, decided to reorganize your closet, or put up creepy pictures, but what is different is that the people who make your home a home are again not there. The good news is that those people are only a text message, phone call or FaceTime away, and in a world that is constantly changing, that is one thing that never will.
