My home away from home

These past four weeks, beginning with New Student Week, I have gone home for at least one day every weekend. On Sunday, while I walking my three dogs, I was thinking about this sort of “double life” that I have made for myself here at Carleton. Living here on the weekdays and going home early Friday afternoon through early Monday morning until right before class starts — has begun to be conflicting for a number of reasons.

1. Not getting to know the full, complete and so- called “beautiful college experience”
2. Guilt for leaving my friends for days at a time
3. Feeling left out since “all the good things” happen while I’m away
4. Finally, hating the commute back to campus more and more because of the dozens of roadkill I have to drive passed in order to get back to Northfield

Despite the reasons listed above, I LOVE going home. The one hour drive is always worth it once I’m actually sitting down, eating a home cooked meal that my mom made specifically for me. The smallest details make the biggest difference now that I’m away. I love my shower head. I love sleeping in my own bed and breathing in the scent of my house once I walk through the front door. I actually take time to listen to the things that my parents tell me and make an effort to have meaningful conversations with them, since I know they’re also coping with my absence. MY DOGS – I make sure to give them as many hugs, treats and kisses as possible because every time I come home, I can tell that their 4 month old bodies are getting bigger and bigger even without me there. I am grateful to be surrounded by two sisters who are both also in college (I’m a twin and I have an older sister who’s a sophomore at UST), so we all can relate to each other’s struggles in and out of campus, on a deeper level. It’s only fair to make a second list about why I love to go home, which will by far outweigh the negatives.

1. Food
2. SLEEPING IN
3. Study dates with my sisters
4. Seeing my parents and my dogs
5. Being in a peaceful space where obligations can be put off for a while without feeling guilty that you’re not doing actual school related work
6. Fried chicken
7. Spending time with new people
8. Not being in the middle of nowhere
9. Peaceful nights without the sounds of trains whistling and powering by
10. Full fridge full of food -> midnight snacks in the middle of the nights
11. Being able to walk outside without having to walk a mile to get to my car

Feeling 100% at peace

The target audience of this post is those who feel like they can’t go home because they’re afraid that they’ll miss out on something important while they’re gone. It’s okay to feel homesick and to act out on your feelings if you want to, because truth is, while you’re away, life back at home is moving just as fast as yours is, despite feeling like you’re in a globe where life runs on your own time. Your parents are getting older, old friends are becoming more distant and changes are happening. Embrace the act of returning.

Home is good.

“How cold does it actually get in Minnesota?”, is the phrase that first-year, Minnesota-born Yadari is already tired of explaining. Besides speaking about the weather, Yadari enjoys working out and doing anything of which shouldn’t be left for tomorrow, today. And of course, long walks on any of the 10,000 lakes here in Minnesota, if and only if they are not frozen solid or a safety hazard. Read on to meet the rest of our bloggers.