OVER THE RIVER AND THROUGH THE WOODS

By the time thanksgiving or fall break rolls around, everybody is ready to be home. To sleep in their own bed, to eat home cooked meals, to relax in the comfort of their own couch. I was definitely one of those people counting down the days ‘till I finally landed in LAX.

I soon realized however, that traveling during the winter-ish months from State College is no easy feat. If it weren’t for my partner in Spanish class telling me about the snow storm, I would probably have been stuck in state college for days.

My flight was on Thursday evening, a nice 28 minute flight from State College to Philly, and then a five and a half hour flight from Philly to Los Angeles. (Philly and LA airports are probably the worst ones to ever be built in America, just a little FYI). Well, it turned out that State College was about to be hit by a massive snow storm, the likes of which would most definitely cancel any flights going to or from the rinky dink University Park airport.

I called my mom in a panic and told her about the storm. She displayed two options, one: I could hitch a ride with my friend to philly on Friday and take a five am flight on Saturday morning, or she could rebook me for a flight that was slated to leave two and a half from that current moment. I decided fast: I’d be leaving that Wednesday night before the blizzard hit.

Unfortunately, I had only a 40 minute layover, and my flight from State College was delayed so I had exactly 7 minutes to get from gate to gate, a feat that usually is a thirty minute walk. I was in a panic. I sprinted to and from the bus and made it just as they were closing the gate, utterly winded.

Once I got home I had an amazing break. I saw everyone I wanted to see. I had the best time. I was lucky to have made my connecting flight and to have been able to change my flight so last minute. I thought this whole getting home experience was pretty wild. Never have a run that fast through an airport before. Little did I know that this would be nothing compared to my struggles returning.

Of course I wished I could have stayed home and relaxed longer in the warm southern California weather, but I knew I would be returning soon. And to be honest transitioning from school to home and back again feels much more natural than you might think. So when I got to LAX the Sunday before school started back up again, I was confident that their wouldn’t be any problems. No more snow storm, I was cool as a cucumber.

My flight left ontime and landed early in Philly. I ate chipotle during my three hour layover and caught up on some reading. I boarded the flight to State College ready to knock out in my dorm room after a long day of travel. “30 minutes to State College,” the pilot said even before we took off.

25 minutes into the flight, the pilot comes on the intercom and says, “Hello everyone. Unfortunately, the visibility in State College is very poor right now, so we are going to have to turn and head back to Philadelphia. We apologize for the inconvenience.” Soon after he made a flying U-turn. We were headed back.

50 jaws dropped simultaneously, most of those 50 being Penn State students. Chatter grew throughout the cabin as we learned that the next flight to State College would be going out on Tuesday and it was already fully booked. The flight attendant handed out free beer to those who wanted it.

We were left with only three options, stay the night in a hotel with indefinite plans, take an Uber, or rent a car. By the time we landed in Philly, the entire airport was closed. It was 11 at night, and fifty people were stranded. Soon, groups started forming. I allied with 6 total strangers. All girl students, and we decided to rent a car.

We hiked to the other side of the airport in the cold, suitcases in hand, packed all our stuff up, squished into the rental car, and hit the road. On the way we encountered a sleepy driver and almost got in an accident, and we drove through some crazy fog. We had no idea who the people sitting next to us were, but we trusted one another completely. We had to.

By the time I got back to my dorm it was 4:30 in the morning and I was preparing to wake up at 8:30 for my 9 am. To say I was exhausted after all that is an understatement.

For my first passion blog post I wrote about how everyone asks me why I chose to leave California to come to Penn State. And I mean literally everyone. Stories like these justify their curiosity. I know this wont be my last travel struggle, it is the first of many. But the thing is, I wouldn’t change a thing. We out-of-state students may not have tailgates every weekend, or a family line of Penn State Alumni, but we bleed blue and white just the same. We love it enough to run through airports and travel for over fifteen hours to get back to happy valley. I am where I am supposed to be, even if that means living in the center of Pennsylvania. I love Penn State, and for that, I will sing my love and loyalty to dear old state.

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HOMESICKNESS

And now, I finally talk about something that almost all college freshman deals with in one way or another: homesickness. Oh yes, homesickness may not be an actual mental illness, but we all know people who have abandoned their school because of its grasp on their life.

We are told that geography plays a roll in this phenomenon. To this I have to agree to disagree. Homesickness is not something that comes from missing a place per say, but from missing home. If you don’t establish a little piece of home away from home, no matter where you are homesickness will bite at you like the impending winter here in Pennsylvania.

When I went away to school, everyone told me how valiant I was for going so far away. And when I got to school, everyone told me, “oh, I could never do that.” I have spent a long time wondering, why? Why is everyone so hesitant to go a plane flight away? Why can’t people see themselves going somewhere far away?

It’s true, more than half of Penn State students are from Pennsylvania itself. And I can count on two hands how many kids from my high school who went out of state, and even fewer who went all the way to the east coast. But why? With how much teenagers complain about their home, their school, and their families, you’d think that they would be far more willing to leave, right?

I think that this notion about geography having to do with homesickness plays a roll in this. Every mile away seems like a catalyst for being miserable. But my experience couldn’t contradict this more. For me it mattered more what school I went to, not where I went. Which is why I wound up in the center of Pennsylvania.

I have loved my experience so far. Sure, I miss my parents. But I’m not so far away from them, really. I know I can call them whenever I want. My friends are also just one faceTime away. I think one of the biggest blessings of going far away is that I can’t go home easily. Whatever I have to deal with, it is my job to figure it out if I am able.

I knew I was ready for this. I’m not running away, I’m ensuring that I can’t run away from my problems by going home. By going far away I have made my home even more special, it is something to look forward to. It is a sacred place.

I was ready for the three thousand mile difference, but I certainly know people who weren’t. When I miss home so much it hurts, I just remember that no matter how far away I am, it is still my home. My family is still my family and their love doesn’t diminish with the distance. That’s all that matters to me.

Before my parents left, my Mom told me something I will never forget. She said if I ever get lonely or homesick or sad, I just have to remember that we are looking up are the same moon. No matter how far apart it seems, we are more connected than ever.

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tiffanyjgodley

Oct 11, 20182 min read

Wawa's vs. Sheetz

The first time I heard someone say “Wawa” I thought to myself, “Is that some kind of bird?” Well I’ll spare you the aggravation. A ‘Wawa’s’ is most definitely not a bird. For those of you who don’t know, Wawa’s is a high class “convenience store, food market, coffee shop, and fuel station.” I have many questions that stem from this description, the first being; how can it be so many things at once?? But save your judgments because people love Wawa’s. To me it sounds like a high class 7 eleven but apparently that assessment is totally wrong. I mean seriously, some people talk about sheetz and Wawa’s as if they grew up there, which in a small way maybe they did.

Shortly into my freshman year I began to realize the unusual differences between the coasts. Sure, me and my friends from New Jersey and Virginia saw the same memes and vines, but sometimes I start talking and I have to stop a few times to explain what things are, specifically eateries.

Carl’s Jr.? My friends had never heard of it. Jack in the Box? Didn’t ring a bell. Roscoe’s chicken and waffles? The habit? In N Out? Blaze? Einstein’s bagels? Boba? Poke? Del Taco? Raising Cane’s? Ralph’s? Vons? Pavilions? Bj’s? Krispy Kreme?! Okay, you get it. There are just so many things I experienced everyday growing up that all my friends had zero experience with, and vice versa.

Once we discovered how different each of our surroundings were growing up, we started talking about how our lingo is different as well. For instance, nowhere else in the world do people say “the” before saying a freeway name. In California we say, “oh you just take the 210 west until you get to the 2 south and after that you take the 5 south.” While everywhere else in America people say, “oh you just take 210 west until you get to 2 south…” To me this sounds completely wrong, but hey whatever floats your boat America.

Also, we don’t have hayrides in California, at least I never road a hayride. This key childhood memory doesn’t apply to me. And when we started focusing on our difference we began to see each other in a new way.

By the end of high school, you know all your friends pretty well. You know about their lives and their quirks, they don’t surprise you very much anymore. Once I began to analyze the different experiences held by my friends here at Penn State, I was struck by how much I could learn from them. All the different regional food restaurants and lingo are just symbols for their varied experiences in life. Experiences that I can learn from having not experienced them myself. I began to appreciate more and more the opportunity to grow vicariously, and expand my horizons. And I know this little revelation is invaluable.

1 Comment

mharris1212

Oct 11, 2018

After reading this blog, I could not help but smile a little bit because of some of the stereotypical things I have grown up doing in your examples. It is crazy to think that we are both in the same country yet so diverse. WaWa and Sheetz is a huge PA debate but its also apart of our culture. The state is split with different opinions of each one. I think it is neat that you are getting so many neat experiences and being in State College is only going to increase them more. There is so much to learn from everyone like you said, and it kind of inspired me to reach out to people who are not so…

OVER THE RIVER AND THROUGH THE WOODS

HOMESICKNESS

Wawa's vs. Sheetz

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