When I began attending college, I was convinced my family was going to fall apart without me. My little brother was going to cry himself to sleep every night, my mother was going to go crazy without our nightly chats over tea and my father was going to destroy the television because I wouldn’t be there to help him manage the remote. But then I left...and everything was fine.
My family members went about their daily lives as usual. They didn’t weep when they walked past my room. They didn’t even call me that often – heck, I had trouble getting them to pick up their phones when I called! I rushed home after one month living away at school, acting as if I’d been stranded on an island for years. I walked in the door expecting my mother to fall over in shock and my brother to rush at me as if all his dreams had just come true. Imagine my surprise when my brother merely glanced at me from the couch and said, “What? You weren’t gone that long.”
At first, I was hurt but then I realized that I didn’t get emotional when I saw family pictures on Facebook, nor did I think about them that often because my classes, friends and clubs were keeping me pretty busy. Leaving home for college can be hard on everyone involved but it’s not the end of the world: You have a new life to lead away at college – don’t miss it because you’re wallowing in what you left behind.
If you ARE feeling homesick, don’t hesitate to pick up the phone and give your dad/sister/friend/cat a call. Everyone likes to feel as if they’re needed and I can guarantee there will be tears when your mom hears you miss her. Plus, vacations and long weekends are never that far around the corner.
Abby Egan is currently a junior at MCLA in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts, where she is an English Communications major with a concentration in writing and a minor in philosophy. Abby hopes to find work at a publishing company after college and someday publish some of her own work. In her spare time, Abby likes to drink copious amounts of coffee, spend all her money on adorable shoes and blog into the wee hours of the night.
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