Sun, fun and relaxation – three words that are synonymous with a college kid’s summer. While most of us work at internships or some other job to pay for school-year expenses, we still look forward to four months void of term papers, final exams, and reading.
Or do we?
As much as I dislike all the work that comes along with college life, most days I can’t stand being away from what has become my second home. This fall, I will be starting my junior year at Syracuse University. For the past two summers, I have come home wishing to get back to the school year filled with books, classes, winters with 170 inches of snow, and friends.
When I first left for college two years ago, I was sure that by the end of each year I would be aching to get back home; back to my bed, my house, good food, and friends I had known for my entire life. I quickly found out, however, that leaving college life for four months of summer is not all it’s cracked up to be.
I don’t understand why, but it seems that there is always something to do at college – and I mean more then schoolwork. There is always somewhere to go or someone to talk to, whether it is going to hear Candace Bushnell, author of Sex and the City, speak, going to a fraternity party, participating in a community service event, or being a part of the late night antics that often happen in college dorms after hours of studying.
And then, all of a sudden, after eight months of building a home and a lifestyle, I am forced to pack everything up and come back to my small town; back to friends that I still love, but who don’t know me as well as they used to. And let’s be honest, I don’t know them as well I used to either. My days are filled with work, and some nights I will meet up with old friends. But I now find myself unable to go more than 24 hours without speaking with college friends. Nightly telephone conversations are a must and my group of friends and I have started a pseudo e-mail listserv, allowing us to keep in touch with each other.
While I love coming back to where I grew up for short visits, it is becoming more difficult for me to stay here for months at a time. The two worlds of school and home are so completely different. One is filled with newfound independence, the other with memories of an old life that I am growing out of. The cliche "home is where your heart is" holds a lot of truth. A small part of my heart will always be with the place where I grew up, but now, a huge part of my heart lives in Syracuse all year long. – Erica Golub (The author is an intern at The Hudson Reporter.)