What I Learned Freshman Year
Written by Paige Morrison, a member of Zeta Tau Alpha.
Before going to college you’re warned a million times that with leaving home there would be mountains to climb, peaks to celebrate, and that you would lose yourself while in the process of finding yourself more times than you could count. But what they don’t tell you is that while in the midst of life going on around you, home quickly transforms from a place that you live to the people you surround yourself with. College has taught me that a home is not a place rooted in a destination or defined by where you grow up; rather home is anywhere with the people you invest your love in. Home is visiting your best friends from high school and knowing in your heart that they’ll always be cheering you on no matter where they are, home is a shoebox sized dorm filled with a roommate who leaves you good luck notes for your tests in the morning, and home is north campus at 2am when the bell is ringing and you’re soaking wet from jumping in the fountain. Home is looking around at those surrounding you and feeling that feeling of overwhelming gratitude in your heart that cannot be forged by places, but can only be created by people. During a time of such confusion and lack of a concrete “home”, we rather have millions of homes in moments and in people who fill our hearts with joy and our lives with laughter. I am thankful for freshman year because it gave me the many places I now get to call my home and the people who have taught me to live for the moments that you cannot put into words.
