Finding Home In New Places

  Have you ever gotten the feeling that your life is stuck in an infinite loop? Nothing changes. Every day feels the same. That's where I was for two years. As hard as I tried I couldn't seem to move forward in any direction. Heck, I couldn't even get out of bed for a year after a trip to Honduras left me with the gastric equivalent of Chernobyl. I think our lives are left mostly up to us, but sometimes God looks down and sees us struggling, sticks a toe out, and gives you a little nudge. I got my nudge this year when I got accepted to a PhD program at UVA. Great opportunity, and the sky was the limit, but I had never really left Blacksburg (a semester of college in Salem doesn't count). For the first couple of weeks everything was new and exciting and a little weird. Day by day though, I carved out a little home for myself amongst the Cavaliers, even if I am a Hokie at heart. Now I couldn't imagine being anywhere else at this point in my life. It was a great lesson for me and goes back to that old saying, "home is where the heart is." I always laughed at that. Despite my brainwashing (and some of the UVA student cliches are indeed verified) I've come to like all the little Hoos in Hooville. I think I may have even accepted the fact that I am one of them now (and with that sentence I reckon I can never return to Blacksburg without facing the torches and pitchforks). The most important thing is not loyalties in this case, it's the fact that whether I'm in the lab, my apartment, hiking the Shenandoah, or getting a slice of pizza at the corner, it feels like home, and I am thankful for that.