In August, I boarded a plane to Austin with three luggages FULL of clothes and a whole lotta fear. Now here I am, once again on a plane, except this time I only have with me one luggage (still filled with clothes) and a lot less fear.
I have literally been waiting for this day for so long - the day when I finally get to go home. So why is it that my heart felt sad when I left campus this morning? In my planner, I have this day marked with a lot of exclamation points. But why don’t my feelings correlate with the number of exclamation marks written on the page?
I’m not saying that I’m not excited to go home and see fam and friends. In fact, I’m THRILLED! But I can’t help feeling a little bit sad at the thought that I won’t be able to see my UT friends for a while. And that thought is what makes me realize where this sadness is coming from. I realize that over the past three months, I’ve slowly started to consider Austin as my home. Not because I sleep, eat, and go to school there. But because there are people whom I love and care about there. And I guess that’s how I’ve come to define “home.”
Home is any place where the people most important to you are. Which is what makes both Austin and Ohio my home. In both places there are people and relationships I cherish and wouldn’t trade for the world. Words can’t express how grateful I am to the people that allow me to call someplace “home.”
That being said, Austin- I’ll see you in a month! Ohio- see you soon!
~jo