Homecoming

Going to college includes many fun and new experiences. Along with those fantastic experiences come havoc and a lot of aggravating experiences. One of the things we miss the most when we go to college is our family and old friends. This weekend everyone at ISU living in the dorms is going home because campus is shutting down and along with the dorm residents people from off campus housing join their fellow redbirds in their homecoming. There are many ways to get back home: car, bus, and train being some of them. The medium of transportation I chose was the train because it is convenient to purchase train tickets and they almost always run on time. Well, that is not always true. I took the train on Friday of thanksgiving break and had a terrible experience. There is a long list of problems the main issue being that the train is running 3 hours behind schedule. This turns out to be a huge inconvenience for people because many people either have obligations to tend to at home or they are trying to catch another train to get back home. I have taken the train home on 4 different occasions and they were running late 2 out of the three times that I took the train. I recommend that students try to catch a bus instead of the train because the bus is cheaper and so far the bus is much more reliable.

I’m looking forward to seeing many things when I get back home. The list of things I can’t wait to see when I get back is fairly generic but I can’t wait to see my family and my friends and of course my pet dog. Last time my dad picked me up from union station I received a warm greeting from my dog Winston as he licked the side of my ear. The funny part is that I remember saying on the train that I hope my dad brings my dog with him on the car ride and sure enough I saw him as soon as I got within a ten foot proximity of the car as I saw my dog rise in excitement because he sees me through the window. One thing that college has taught me is to appreciate what I have back at home and I feel many other people are getting the same discovery as me. I know this because whenever I log into Facebook I see the statuses that say “going back home today can’t wait to shower without flip flops!!”. Although that person is excited to go back home and see their family they also noticed the little things like having to shower with flip flops on and they realize how nice it really is being home. I also can’t wait to get a break from the unhealthy cafeteria food that the school offers. The freshmen 15 exist largely because the school provides them resources to eat unhealthily and not so much the healthy diet. This week we have Thanksgiving and I can’t wait to have some turkey with the side of some succulent honey baked ham. Each bite I take I’m going to savor the flavor and appreciate the time with my family rather than feeling annoyed because I have to eat dinner with my annoying family.