The Carolina family on campus is real. And I didn’t quite realize it until I flew back to New York for fall break.
I was excited. I was excited to see my siblings and parents, excited to see old teachers and excited to see old friends. At first it was great; I got to tell all my stories that have happened since I left, and I got to hear theirs. I got to re-establish the “home footing," and made sure I hadn’t changed too much. And I got some great New York-style meals.
But after this whirlwind honeymoon of playing catch up with the hometown folks from Fayetteville, it began to hit me that this wasn’t my true home anymore. I didn't affect the day to day life of anyone I talked to. They were all still close friends and family, but, for my four days home, I was just a casual observer of the lives they were now living without me. Acquaintances I used to chat with only had hellos to say. Advertised events impacted me in no way. Noticing all this only made me miss my new home, 982 miles away, that much more.
At first, USC was a new experience for me. Simply put, it was a vacation into a new culture and nothing else. I was meeting new people, going to new areas and trying new things, which I was wholly content with. But about a week and a half in it began to become more. Much of the things I was used to back in Fayetteville, things that made Fayetteville home, began to occur here. I began having dinners with my floor, which we called “family dinner," I began having “family movie nights" and I even began having floor sleepovers. My floormates became the siblings I missed so badly and my RM the mom that kept me in line but comforted me when I needed it.
It’s needless to say that Fayetteville will always be the place that really got me started, and who knows, maybe after college it’ll be the place I make a permanent home. But visiting there over fall break made me realize that home has moved down South for me, right here to USC's campus. This is home now, and, for the time being, Fayetteville is the vacation spot in a different culture.
Now excuse me if I sound like the stereotypical freshman enamored with his new school and the college experience as a whole. But I lead you to ask yourself a simple question that maybe hasn’t entered the realm of your mind as of late: Where is your home?