When I first started attending Longwood, I remember often looking forward to going home on the weekend. To be honest, my first few weeks of college were pretty hectic and a bit of a blur. However, I do remember wanting to go home most weekends.
Some parents tell their freshmen to try not to come home often so they can better become acquainted to college life. My parents were not those parents.
I remember my mom telling me (and she still tells me) I could come home whenever I wanted to, even every weekend if I felt like I needed it. At first, I took her up on this offer. I would come home either every weekend or every other weekend.
As I’ve previously mentioned, I am an only child and I never really was away from home that often without my family. So the transition into college life was a little challenging for me. At first, I felt I needed to escape a little on the weekends. Escape all the new things constantly happening around me, to unwind, and to also have my own space again and be around my family.
I remember my grandmother telling me that once I moved away and started going to college, coming home would mean so much more than before—and she was right. Because I spend most of my time at Longwood now, going home is like getting a treat. It has become something special.
I am a firm believer that, if you feel like you need a break from college, you should go home, especially at the beginning when everything seems overwhelming. For me, I also wanted to go home more frequently at first because I didn’t have many friends yet—if any at all. I don’t know if I have mentioned this before, but no one else from my high school or hometown chose to go to Longwood. When I arrived at Longwood, there were no familiar faces. Everyone was new, and I had to try to socialize and find my own friends.
At the beginning, I remember not really socializing as much because I was really focused on my grades and assignments. The college workload was definitely more than high school. So I kind of took things one step at a time. Once I got my academic bearings, I tried to become more social and make some friends. I will say that I could’ve been a little more social in the beginning of my college career because that is just as important as making good grades. Feeling like you have at least one person to talk to or to wave “hello” to makes a big difference in how comfortable you feel at college.
I am not sure if there is a perfect balance to anything in life, really. A lot of experiences in life are give and take, and that’s OK.
For me, going home more frequently in college was what I needed in the beginning. For any high-school seniors reading this, you may feel that way, too, next year. Trust me—it’s completely normal. You are put into a whole new environment, so it’s normal to feel scared or a little homesick. After a couple of weeks into my first semester at college, I started going home every other week instead of every week because I became more comfortable here. This will most likely happen to you, too. New experiences in life to take time to get used to, so do what works best for you.
