What is the True Meaning of Home

hi

i’m maddie setzer and for most of my

life i thought that home was a place

much like many others i grew up thinking

that a home was a place of family

a place of love and a place of laughter

if you would ask me when i was younger

to draw a picture of what a home should

look like i would have come up with a

stick figure drawing

of my father my mother and i quickly

things changed for me though

when i was five years old my parents

ended up separating

well for little me this threw a wrench

in everything that i’d ever known

now i would be lying if i said that i

had many memories of my father my mother

and i all together

but it left me questioning what really

is a home

let me tell you that is no easy task for

any five-year-old

from then on lasting until my early

years of high school i had two homes

much like one home they were very

similar yet

my parents didn’t live under one roof

both were a great place of great

memories

a roof over my head and a loving

guardian i was content with this at the

time

and it wasn’t until my junior year of

high school the school year i just

completed

until i really started questioning what

makes a home

this questioning began in my english

class when we were presented with a

writing assignment to embody the work of

joan didion

we read a collection of her stories

slouching towards bethlehem

and one narrative spoke to me in

specific it was titled ongoing home

in the story didion herself struggles

with what the idea of home should look

like

her ideas ranging from a place where her

husband and daughter reside or the place

that she grew up

well reading this about blew my mind

something in the story may feel made me

feel so connected

that i was entranced when it came time

for this writing assignment

i knew exactly what i would do i would

embody the work

of ongoing home i found that writing

this essay to be very therapeutic

i unlocked a layer of myself that i had

never known

i was left somewhat unfulfilled though i

realized that there are many definitions

of home

and it’s completely up to you as an

individual to decide what that means to

you

i looked back at my years of high school

and realized that i had had so many

homes myself

i realized how many incredible people i

had met through programs at my high

school that i would never

have been able to meet if it wasn’t for

said programs

i met people through the international

baccalaureate program or the ib

program for short along with friends

that i met

through my soon to be incredible four

years on the track team

some of these people have grown to be

the most influential in my life and the

most stable

and that’s exactly what a home should be

they make me feel

safe loved and appreciated they’re some

of the most hardworking

incredible compassionate people that

i’ve ever met and just by being around

them

i’ve learned to be a little bit more

like them

this should help me show this helped

show me

how important it is to surround yourself

with incredible people and not take it

for granted

with all of that being said i would like

to touch on the importance of also

realizing that not every

person in not every home is permanent

that’s more than okay

it’s important to keep in mind the great

memories affiliated with each individual

but also the life lessons learned when

it comes down to it

don’t look at the negatives too much

because ultimately i don’t believe

that’s what life is about

plus what happens when someone or

something doesn’t serve you anymore

you pack up and leave much like a home

sometimes it’s painful

sometimes it’s painful and sudden but

sometimes you just outgrow situations

and both are perfectly normal in time

you find a new place and a new home to

stay

and i encourage in time you find a new

place and a new home to call yours

forever or however long that may be

i encourage everyone to find those

special people in your life reach out

make new connections life’s all about

the company you keep

thank you