Home is a really special place for me. It signifies family, friends, and a secure place of love and joy. I have lived in the same home since I was three years old, and I guess I expected that my childhood home would always be there. It has been the place where my aunts, uncles, and cousins gather for birthdays and holidays, and the place where my brothers, sister, parents and I get to reconnect when we all come home during our breaks from school. I thought it would be a really long time before I had to say goodbye to that home. But then I learned that my parents were planning on moving.
The reason I chose to write about this is that it is symbolic of my life for the past year. 2016 is only four months young, and it has still been one of the most transformative years of my life. This year I changed my major, decided to step down from my position as an RA, and now I am saying goodbye to my childhood home. For me, these are all signs that I am really entering my adult life. I am making hard decisions, leaving parts of my childhood behind, and preparing for my future as an independent adult and professional. Through all of these processes, I have learned a lot about myself and how I respond to change. I have learned how to make big decisions. I have also learned how to let go of the past and embrace exciting and sometimes scary things to come. All of these experiences came fast and unexpectedly, and they have prepared me for the unknowns and unexpected happenings of the future, and leaving my childhood home has helped me realize that.