Going home from college for the first time feels strange

Posted December 1st, 2009. Categorized under Life. 7 Comments

During my freshman year at college, I realized that one of the strangest experiences you have is when you go back home for the first time.

When I came back the first time last year, I was amazed at how bizarre it felt. In the month and a half that I had been away from home, I had changed and grown in a lot of different ways, yet I had barely noticed at all. I assumed that my home must somehow be ‘different’, that surely it and the people who live there must have changed too.

But nothing changed — there weren’t any major changes to the town, my bedroom still looked the exact same, and I still had to fight with my neighbor for my parking spot. Because I had been gone for so long, things felt unfamiliar, yet I knew this is how things had been. The weirdness, I think, came from being placed back into the exact same routine and role that I had been in for most of my life, yet having it feel weird and abnormal because I had adjusted to my college life.

A lot of different things felt ‘weird’ — walking into my house’s bathroom, walking into my old bedroom, seeing my friends for the first time in months, and driving past the gym I used to work at. But I think the weirdest thing was driving. Somehow, it felt so strange to me that I lost (part) of my ability to drive. I had to actually pull over and shake myself out of it!

Has anyone else had similar experiences when coming back home after a long period of time?

If you live near your school and go back and forth every week or two, you probably won’t notice it as much, but if you’ve been away a couple of months before coming back, it’s definitely going to feel strange.

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7 Replies to “Going home from college for the first time feels strange”

Comments:

1. SPennLUE

December 2nd, 2009 7:19 am

I never dormed out for college, but my brother did. He seemed a little out-of-place the first time he came home (Thanksgiving break), but more noticeable for me was how weird it was to have him back. With only one person gone, the house somehow got much quieter than I had expected, although I hadn’t noticed. Also, I had to share a bedroom again :\

2. furacoua

December 2nd, 2009 3:32 pm

I know the feeling. For me it felt more like the world had stopped and only my life had been moving and things had happened. It´s easy to go back to old habits and become that child you don´t think you are anymore.

3. Brittany Emch

December 4th, 2009 2:48 pm

For that first Thanksgiving break, coming home was a relief and it felt so natural to be back yet I felt completely out of my element with the fact that I had a car and there was so much more freedom to go wherever I wanted because of it. But I think I take for granted all of my freedom at school, and it’s a great feeling to be back on campus with nothing to tie me down. And then the element of having two homes is a weird feeling as well.

4. mimar

December 16th, 2009 4:17 am

It´s easy to go back to old habits and become that child you don´t think you are anymore.

5. tommy

December 19th, 2009 11:15 am

yes, that’s syndrome paralyze because your body and brain lost the ability for a moment. but that’s not a big deal, it’s a normal. it happens to a lot of people.

6. Henry from First Mortgage Buyer

December 19th, 2009 11:33 am

I can certainly relate. I remember the first time I went away from home, I was gone for about a year. I had the most wonderful feeling of excitement and familiarity when the plane finally got within a few miles of the local airport. It was funny too, because my friends that were still there were basically right where I left them, yet I felt like I had changed a great deal.

7. Best Portland Painters

December 23rd, 2009 7:02 am

I too had similar feelings.i felt that I’ve been to new world with different new people.