I’m not going to lie to you. If there had been a category for “Most Anxious to Get Out of This… I’m not going to lie to you. If there had been a category for “Most Anxious to Get Out of This Place,” last year for the senior superlatives, I would have won by a landslide. I was ready to leave high school and my hometown right around October of senior year. I’d had enough of it all and wanted to move on to the new school, new environment and new people that college would bring.

While I spent some of my summer hanging out with my closest high school friends for the last time, most of it was spent counting down the days until college would start. I was so excited to leave that I didn’t get a single minute of sleep the night before I was scheduled to move into Litchfield Tower B.

After two semesters of higher education, however, I guess I can say I’ve calmed down. My first year of college was awesome – that point needs no further explanation. I love all the new friends I’ve made and I love living in the city as opposed to out in rural Jeannette, Pa. Despite the excitement of college life and my love for its differences from high school, I can honestly say that I can’t wait for this year to be over so I can get reabsorbed into my life at home.

I’m not referring to a physical move from Pittsburgh back to Jeannette; I already live at home. It’s the characteristics of life in the place I grew up that I can’t wait to get back to.

I miss the obvious things, such as spending time with my best friends. Every weekend when I get home from work and it’s too late to haul it to Oakland to go out, I instinctively reach for the phone to call one of them – only to remember that they’re all away at college. It’s funny that I never thought about how much I would miss them last year when I was so anxious to get away.

There are other things too, such as being able to walk down the school hallways and, though I may not be close with everyone I see, at least know names. It’s exciting to see new people every day, but sometimes being just another nameless face in a crowd of something like 15,000 students gets a little lonely. I miss the kids in my homeroom that I hardly talk to anymore, teachers who actually knew who I was, and all the other little things that I took for granted while I had them.

There’s nothing like driving on streets you know that aren’t constantly littered by traffic and fearless pedestrians. I knew how to get to the mall without having to depend on a bus. When there wasn’t anything to do, we had a valid excuse – “This town is boring.” In Pittsburgh, if you can’t find recreational activities, it’s because you’re not trying.

To sum it up, I’ve basically been converted. I could never relate to those classmates who, last year, shuddered at the thought of leaving good old Hempfield High – one girl would even break into tears at even the mere mention of graduation – but I think I can now. OK, so I’m not balling my eyes out because high school is over, but I’ve come to realize what home really means to me. I never thought I’d say it, but I’m ready for summer vacation and spending four months back in a different world. Among all the things I’ve gained this year at Pitt, the most valuable thing was something I should have had all along – an appreciation for home.

Jen Giarrusso encourages all her long lost HAHS buddies, and anyone else with comments or questions, to e-mail her at [email protected].