Attending College Far from Home
I decided to apply for colleges all over the country, some of which were close to home and some of which were very, very far away. I’m from Dallas, Texas, and SLU ended up being a happy medium distance-wise out of all of the colleges I applied to. It’s about a 2-hour flight from Dallas to St. Louis, and close to a whopping 11-hour drive.
Choosing SLU meant traveling somewhere completely new to me. It also meant that I wouldn’t be able to drive home whenever I felt like it. I was worried that I would feel like an outsider in St. Louis while I learned to navigate my new home away from home.
In reality, going to school far away from Dallas has allowed me to branch out, get to know a new city and meet so many people from all over the world. It also forced me to put myself out there and break out of my shell in a way that I might not have if I had gone to school closer to home.
One example of this was Labor Day weekend my freshman year, which is usually the first long weekend of the fall semester and a time when many students go home to visit their families. This wasn’t a realistic option for me. I decided to sign up for a retreat through Campus Ministry so I would have something to do over the long weekend. I ended up having an amazing time, meeting so many people and creating some deep connections that weekend. Some of the people I met at the retreat are still my close friends to this day, and three even became my current roommates. The retreat also added to the number of friendly, familiar faces I recognized around campus, which made SLU feel even more like home.
Of course, I miss my family, childhood friends and other things about Dallas. Sometimes I wish I could make a quick trip home at the end of a hard day or attend more family gatherings, like my sister’s birthday celebration. Without the option to go home at the drop of a hat, I’ve learned to cope with obstacles and build community for myself. I have friends in my corner in St. Louis, and when I have a hard day, I know I can hang out with my wonderful roommates while we cook our favorite meals together.
At SLU, I’m immersed in a community and an environment that make being away from home easier. Now, when I fly back to Dallas during a school break or make the 11-hour drive to SLU with my dad at the beginning of the academic year, I get to share the place and the people that have become a second home to me with those that have always been my first.
Dani is a junior at Saint Louis University studying secondary education mathematics. She is originally from Dallas, Texas.