Are you homesick? No. But do you miss certain things from home? Yes. This is a question many have been asked in the past few weeks. As we are near halfway in the our first semester, it makes many of us reflect on our past month or so, and things that occurred beforehand. Countless times, I have heard others talk about “Even though I love it here, I miss home. I love my friends, but I also miss my friends at home.” In my opinion, this is something that I think we can all relate to. Whether you loved or hated your hometown, there most likely will always be a part of you that misses it, or feels some sort of belonging there, no matter how many miles away you are.  

Seeing one year ago today memories on Snapchat are something that most experience. Whether it’s senior year football games, homecoming, or just driving around with friends, it makes us all reminisce. However, there is one thing we also see that is new to us. Something that I have noticed is seeing the tag “Home” in my camera roll from pictures at Penn State. As exciting as this is, it shows the huge changes we have experienced in the past few months. Home is defined as, “the place where one lives.” Personally, I think home means more than this.  

A Year Ago- One of our Last School Dances

Home is not only a place where one lives, but a place where one feels their true self, happy, and comfortable. Home is not only a physical place, but a place where one feels a sense of belonging. Home can be described as many things. In college, there is not just one place where we call home anymore, but at least two. Home is surrounded by people you care about and people you enjoy being around, and it tells a story. We came to college with different stories of home, but now we are beginning to all have an even more similar story of home, which is Penn State.  

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Around 3 months ago, home was very different for all of us. We were surrounded by our families, different friends, and different places. The main roads we traveled on to go to work, school, and to hang out with friends, were most likely much different than they are now. Now, we are only a short walk or uber ride away from places we go to. Most went from driving every day to not driving for months. We went from seeing our friends every day, to a short text or call asking how they are doing, maybe even with a conversation about how you miss the stupid events and things your high school would make you do, such as the assemblies you are now seeing your younger friends attend, or your old sports team being undefeated. University of the people says, “Getting homesick in college is a very normal response to a separation from home and family.” Whether it is homesickness or simply just missing things from home, it is a perfectly normal thing to experience.  

As happy as I am to be at Penn State, it is starting to approach the time of year where we miss our friends and family at home, a home cooked meal, and miss the simple things, such as coming home from school and being able to lay on a couch surrounded by our pets and families. As Fansided states, “While college food has made great strides, the reality is that a home cooked meal is a plate of comfort like no other.” Even though we can feel these feelings of comfort at our Penn State home too, the excitement of being able to go home is one that is on lots of people’s minds. The transition we have experienced is one that is most definitely unique, and that many do not understand until it is fully experienced.  

Sources:

https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/home 

https://foodsided.com/2021/10/13/college-students-crave-this-one-thing-from-home/ 

https://www.uopeople.edu/blog/homesickness-in-college/