It’s incredibly unorthodox in terms of my personal style to open with a quote, but I want to draw your attention to the lyrics of Ed Sheeran’s “Castle on the Hill”: “Found my heart and broke it here // Made friends and lost them through the years // And I've not seen the roaring fields in so long, I know I've grown // But I can't wait to go home”. I’ve spent the majority of the past two summers at home. This is something that I haven’t done since roughly the age of seven. I went to sleep-away camp from the summers preceding 3rd to 9th grade, I participated in leadership programs the summers preceding 10th and 11th grade, I spent the summer before my senior year in Bulgaria and then in Israel, and the summer before my freshman year I was in Ann Arbor taking summer classes. I have not spent longer than four weeks at a time at home during the summer months since second grade.

As this summer comes to a close, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. I’ve taken note of the fact that while we are all pretty much too old for camp, still almost all of my friends from home do not spend their summers here. In fact, I’ve spent almost all of my time for the past two months in the company of my family, or solely my own company. Truthfully, I couldn’t really tell you how I feel about that.

What I will tell you, is that today we moved my brother into his dorm at Michigan State. I distinctly remember how much faster high school seemed to go by once my brother began his four years, and I am terrified of the probable fact that college will be no different. I cherish the time I spend in Ann Arbor so deeply; the people I am surrounded by, the ways that I spend my time, even the atmosphere of the campus is truly unmatched by anything else I have ever experienced. I know I’m only halfway, but wow am I afraid of the end.

This seemingly ominous ‘end’ has made me much more aware of the present, as well as the future. I’ve been thinking a lot about how I plan to spend my next summer, and what my plan is two years from now. Much to the disappointment of my grandparents, I still have no idea. But I do have a relative clue about where I would like to be.

I’ve noticed a common trend amongst my friends from around here—they all want to get out of the bubble that is our town. Being surrounded by that mindset has subliminally wore me down over the past few years, and for a long time I thought that I was of the same opinion. But spending so much time in this city pretty much on my own for the last two summers has made me realize that maybe I don’t feel such a strong need to get away from this place.

I like to start my mornings with a hot cup of coffee. During the school year, I typically brew my own and bring it with me to class in a travel mug. While I’m at home, I love to indulge in a sweet cup of Tim Horton’s French Vanilla coffee—something I can’t do during the school year seeing as though the only Tim Horton’s in Ann Arbor is not in walking distance. However something I also can’t indulge in during the school year, is my absolute favorite scones from a local bakery down the street called “Jen’s Gifts of Love”. The bakery is owned and operated by the most amazing woman who greets me with a smile and a hug every time I come in. She knew me by name by my second visit, and has since cultivated a relationship with me that could never be replicated at a chain coffee shop. Don’t get me wrong, I still love Tim Horton’s, but if I didn’t spend the time at home that I do, I would be deprived of Jen’s scones, and her coffee that is just slightly better, because it tastes like the place in which I’ve grown, and that I call home.