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

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