As I type out this blog post, fall break is winding down and I can officially say that I am 1/16 done with my academic career in college. These past 7-8 weeks have been a complete whirlwind, filled with both highs and lows. However, I can definitively say that I am truly happy here at Ohio State.
One of the highlights of my college experience so far has been the sheer amount of opportunities and assortment of things to do. From attending a forum on Refugee Law and Politics, to watching a star show in the OSU Planetarium, to playing a pickup game of dodgeball a block down from my dorm, I never have a valid excuse to be bored. More importantly, I’ve found that I truly love my classes. I’ve come to the realization that nothing provides me profound fulfillment like learning does, so what better place is there to be than at a college? I actively look forward to all of my lectures everyday, whether they be about the life and death of stars, societal stratification in Lancaster, or the cultural foundations of the Roman Republic. Of course it helps that all of my professors are brilliant and engaged, and there are no more “joke classes” like I was forced to take in high school.
On the other side of the coin, I’ve found myself to actually be a little homesick, something I was not expecting whatsoever when I arrived. I suppose it’s inevitable, when you leave everything you’ve ever known for something new, but it still hurts nonetheless. I’ve been able to somewhat come to terms with it, thanks to a quote from South Park that reads: “Well yeah, and I’m sad, but at the same time I’m really happy that something could make me feel that sad. It’s like, it makes me feel alive, you know? It makes me feel human. And the only way I could feel this sad now is if I felt somethin’ really good before. So I have to take the bad with the good, so I guess what I’m feelin’ is like a, beautiful sadness”. So I guess the homesickness I feel should be viewed as a good thing, as it shows I lived a great life.