At the end of senior year, the only thing better than receiving my diploma and leaving my high school nightmare was leaving home.
As I was walked across the stage ready to snatch my diploma and tell my principal to shove it, I could not help but think about how great it would be to leave my one-horse town and head for another one-horse town just three hours away.
All I wanted was to get out of the house.
I treated it like it was condemned because as far as I was concerned that house was filled with black mold and the virus that would one day start the zombie apocalypse.
Now, after being away for two some odd months what I want more than anything in the world is to go back home.
When I first arrived at Eastern, I was convinced I was immune to homesickness because all I ever wanted was to leave home.
I tried harder to escape my house and my hometown than Steve McQueen and the other POWs in “The Great Escape”.
Whenever I would go on trips, I never felt homesick because I was thrilled to be out of the house.
However, the difference from those short trips and this long journey through college is that with the short trips I knew I was going to be home in a few days.
Thus, my confusion when I started calling home frequently and frantically searching for something familiar like drinking Abuelita Hot Chocolate or Taster’s Choice instant coffee because it is what my Nana drinks every single morning.
It was a new sensation, an emotion that I have not experienced.
I thought it was a phase at first but when I started falling behind in school work and nearly flunked a few assignments I knew that my homesickness was a in fact a sickness.
The only remedy was to go back home, at least that is what I thought.
Despite this preconceived notion, however, when I went back home it only made matters worse because I did not want to leave.  I was afraid to leave.
Homesickness is not a phase or something that should be ignored nor can it be cured with a few capfuls of Nyquil.
Homesickness can be emotionally harmful if not treated properly.
It has the power to brainwash students and convince them that the only safe place to be is home.
It will send students sprinting home where they will waste their potential and they might not return for another semester.
There are many ways to deal with homesickness, but one good way to cope is to stay involved without getting overwhelmed.
It is good to be a part of many RSOs, but when it gets to the point when you find it hard to breathe you find yourself searching for safety and comfort in a familiar place.  What better place than at home?
That is why I wanted to go home.
I wanted my mom and grandma to defend me and fight my battles for me because I was afraid to face them on my own.
It is okay to miss home and want to rekindle with the familiar instead of facing the unknown because it’s absolutely frightening.
Make this school your new home.
Find what makes you happy and fill your life with it.
Surround yourself with artifacts from home but be sure to discover new things.
Homesickness can be cured with a lot of patience, faith and determination.

Analicia Haynes is a freshman journalism major. She can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].