Homesick for freshmen dorms?

By Anna Woelfel

I am homesick. Not for my hometown, but for my home all of freshman year: ninth floor Swig. I miss the tiny rooms. I miss the always dirty study lounge. I miss the long elevator rides. But most of all, I miss the people. That floor in Swig became my home; those people became my family.

This year, I find excuses to go visit my friends still living in Swig, hoping to recapture that feeling, but I am always disappointed. It's not the same. Granted, Swig received countless beautiful upgrades over the summer making it look extremely different, but I feel like an outsider for other reasons.

I no longer live there, Swig is now someone else's home. The building and its occupants have moved on while I am stuck pining for the past. Santa Clara did such a good job making me feel comfortable freshman year in Swig that I became too comfortable. The beginning of this year was a bit of a shock. If I want to go to Benson with a friend, I can't just walk down the hall and knock on his or her door; I had to text. It's the little things like that which make me notice the change the most.

I'm sure I could find that sense of community again if I tried, but as a sophomore, I think it is harder. People already have their friend groups and are pretty content with them. They do not make as much of an effort to get to know their neighbors, to bond as a community.

The worst part, is I see this homesickness only getting worse. Next year, I will move off campus, further distancing myself from my concentrated group of friends who live a few feet from me. Some of my junior friends have complained to me about the increased amount of effort it takes to stay in contact once you don't have a hall or even a common eating place to meet up.

The even scarier thought is graduation. There will no be a dorm or campus or even a state to tie friends together. People will go their own ways and end up in completely different cities, states or even countries while pursuing their life goals. It is a frightening and sobering thought: not having Santa Clara and all of its people constantly in my life. How will I maintain my current friendships after graduation when I may not get to see those people for months or even years on end?

But as sad as the thought of graduation, living off campus or not being on the same floor as my friends makes me, I am thankful that I feel this way; it means I am happy here.Missing people is a part of forming attachments as one goes through life; it's natural. If I went home for the summer and did not miss or care about any of my friends from school, could I really call them my friends? No. It would mean that I did not form any significant relationships here.If anything, I am lucky to be homesick for Swig.

Anna Woelfel is a sophomore communication major.