Browsing: home

I think sometimes God plants a desire in your heart long before you understand why. And sometimes the place you try to talk yourself out of is the very place you were meant to be.

There’s a quiet grief that follows us out the door when leaving one place hurts and leaving another hurts too. That sadness isn’t something to apologize for — it’s proof of deep belonging.

In a world full of success and hustle culture, watching the friends you grew up with pack their bags to move to their dream city might spark feelings of insecurity. Despite this, it’s important to remember that everyone is on their own path, on their own time. It might not sound as glamorous as a packed U-Haul barreling its way to a new city, but returning to your hometown post-grad is just as fulfilling.

The Bryants moved into a house on 11th Street in 1966. Now, the neighborhood looks different. The old houses have been torn down, replaced by student rentals and boxy apartments built fast and cheap. But the Bryants’ home remains.

These “trad” wives seen on social media are the exception, not the expectation. Their whole lives are based around being moms — of course, they are going to be able to dedicate all their time to raising their kids exactly how they want. The truth is this lifestyle will likely never be a reality for most young women who want a family someday.

America faces a fundamental issue: We lack a place to go that is neither “work” nor “home.” We define this space as the “third place” — a space for recreation where one can simply exist — and its absence is an ongoing problem in how we structure our cities, exacerbated by the rise of phone use.

Once classes get going and you have found your new best friends, you might not miss home. But in those still moments when nothing is happening, you start to wonder about home. You wonder about waking up late, not having a pile of assignments and seeing your childhood pets.

A nightmare of a living situation can ensue if students haven’t thoroughly read their contracts and done research before moving in and signing with their housing complex. First-time residents can be easily walked over simply due to a lack of experience.