Coming Home

Well, the title was appropriate on Thursday when I meant to write it. As of May 12th, I am finished with my Freshman year of college!!!!! So much has happened this year for me academically, emotionally, and mentally that it has taken most of the last six days for me to start feeling like a human being again. A good portion of that comes from sleeping for 10 hours straight the last few days. It's amazing how inhuman you feel when sleep deprivation sets in. But, on some level, getting minimal sleep the last few weeks has been a good thing. The end of term grades I've gotten so far have been really good (all A or A-), and I was able to get most of my stuff packed and home before Thursday last week. Then, thanks to a computer virus one of my family members got, I've had to wait to use my computer until we did major maintenance on it.

My dorm room was so depressing with all of the pictures and posters down and packed. It's been nice to work on putting them up in my room at home, though. For the first time in 4 years, my room feels like a place I live and can call home as opposed to a room where I keep my ridiculous amount of stuff. I even spent last night putting up some of the strings of lights I got for my dorm room. In all honesty, my room at home now feels like a dorm room in the basement of my parents' house. :)

So much about me has changed in the past eight/nine months. I've relaxed in school, not to the point where I've let my grades slip, but I'm not so stuck up about having to study non-stop for 5 or 6 hours every day. I have a social life for the first time in 19 years, and I've discovered that I really enjoy it. I love having friends I can hang out with and can talk to on a regular basis. I trust myself to try new things and experiment more than I ever did before. I'm able to talk to my friends about more things too, trusting them more than I ever have before. I trust my own talent more, especially in acting. After playing "Van's Sister," I really feel that I have actual acting talent (Thanks Basic Acting I). I'm investing in relationships with other people to the point that I didn't want to say goodbye to my absolutely amazing roommate. I still have difficulty with things drawing to a close, but I know that I'll get to see all my friends again, probably sooner than I think.

This year away from home has been a true opportunity for me to grow. I would not trade it for anything in the world. Here comes the summer before my Sophomore year of college!!

"I'm coming home/ I'm coming home/ Tell the world I'm coming home/ Let the rain wash away all the pain of yesterday/ I know my kingdom awaits and they've forgiven my mistakes/ I'm coming home/ I'm coming home/ Tell the world that I'm coming home."