Wednesday, January 16, 2019 // The Statement
7B
Wednesday, November 20, 2019 // The Statement
7B
I
’ve had enough,” I thought to
myself at the end of my senior
year of high school. I was tired of
the small town in New Jersey and ready
to get out. I was tired of being around
the same people, I was tired of having
no freedom and I was tired of the dull-
ness that came with being in the same
place.
I was ready for a change, and I knew
I wanted to point myself toward Los
Angeles. I could no longer stand the
cold weather and snow. I wanted that
temperate SoCal climate, the ability to
go to the beach in the middle of Janu-
ary, the feeling of being on vacation all
the time. Unfortunately, my mother
wouldn’t let me apply to any schools in
Los Angeles, so oblivious to how much
the weather resembled the New Jersey
winters, I went for the next farthest
place: the University of Michigan. I
knew that a lot of Californians went to
Michigan, and they had an established
alumni base there, so I could aim my
sights on sunny LA post-grad.
If I couldn’t go to California, I would
go to the best school I go into far away
from home. I would get the vaunted
independence I desired and a degree
that could land me on the Pacific shores.
I quickly fell from the clouds of my
fantasy and back to cold reality. The
minute I arrived at Michigan, I imme-
diately yearned for New Jersey. The
cliche “You don’t know a good thing till
it’s gone” definitely rang true for me. I
didn’t realize how many things I took
for granted at home — having a home-
cooked meal, having help with my laun-
dry, having a set bedtime and schedule
to follow. I missed my mom’s meatballs,
and the comfort of my own bed and
bonding with my mom over our shared
affinity for HGTV’s “House Hunters.”
I missed my little town of Chatham —
walking around the tree-lined streets,
having delicious bagels at my favorite
cafe, being an hour train ride from New
York. I missed all the great attractions I
took for granted while being able to go
to the greatest city in the world nearly
every weekend — the thin-sliced pizza,
the Met, Central Park.
I missed the familiarity of the people
I had known for the past four years,
and the strong friend group I had made
my senior year. The independence I so
desperately craved was too overwhelm-
ing for me. Without a rigid schedule, I
spent too much time hanging out with
friends, and not enough time studying,
and often went to bed too late to be pro-
ductive in the morning. And, without
that delicious Italian cooking, I ended
up eating too little, and what I did eat
was mostly garbage. I was a mess, and I
couldn’t believe this was the start of the
life I had waited for.
I also immediately put to rest all of
those grand plans for California I had
set out at the beginning of college. It
was so nice to be able to be only a short
plane ride away from home. I couldn’t
imagine only being able to go home
twice a year if I were in California, and
not spend Thanksgiving in the comfort
of my own community. More impor-
tantly, I couldn’t stand the fact of being
too far from my sister, who moved to
New York during my freshman year. I
wanted to be able to see my parents and
my sister more than just a few times a
year. The nightly phone calls I made
were no replacement — and this was
coming from the guy who said he was
only going to call home once a week.
What really tipped the scales for
me, though, was spending my
summer with my sister in New
York. I loved staying in her
little
studio
apartment
and being able to go to
the attractions every
weekend. Even better,
I was able to walk or
take public transpor-
tation
anywhere,
a near impossibil-
ity in car-centered
California. I imme-
diately knew I had
to return to the
tri-state area; this
was my home, and
I could not imagine
being away from the
center of it all, with
the people I loved
most.
Putting those crazy
ideas to rest also made
my college experience
better. I was able to estab-
lish a new friend group,
go to the football games and
share in all of the fun Friday
nights after a long school week. I
missed all of these important things
in my rush to grow up. We became such
a tight-knit group that we decided to
travel to New York for spring break,
and I was in charge of showing them
my hometown.
Returning home that February with
my friends, my experience came full
circle. I drove them around those same
tree-lined streets, showed them what
a real bagel tasted like, walked
around the mall I had grown
up with and, best of all,
shared a dinner of my mom’s
meatballs. Being able to share
my love of home put any
thoughts of leaving to rest.
College brought me back to earth
BY ALEXANDER COTIGNOLA, STATEMENT COLUMNIST
ILLUSTRATION BY JONATHAN WALSH
“