Finding A Home Away from Home
The Texas Story Project.
For Mireya, home wasn’t a place, it was the important people, like her mom, dad, and sister. For most of Mireya’s life, she had lived away from her extended family, like grandparents and cousins, but was always with her parents and sister. This all changed when she went off to college. As Mireya got ready to head to Texas to start college, her parents and sister were headed off across the ocean to Naples, Italy. It wasn’t always easy for her, and she missed her family, but she enjoyed her time in San Antonio.
Mireya became more independent and tried to find a place for herself and become more independent. She found herself in San Antonio, and found places there that made her happy. She loved the atmosphere of San Antonio, and the different parts of it. “San Antonio was a place that felt like home, even when I first arrived here,” recalled Mireya.
Although it was difficult trying to balance family time, school, work, and personal time, she still found a place to call home. It gave her a sense of identity, and somewhere she could feel at home, when she was away from the place or people she considered home. She found people who helped her get through her troubles when her family couldn’t, and people to hang out with at school.
Not only did she find friends, but a few years after she started college, Mireya found people to call her sisters, and people to call her family. “My junior year my boyfriend convinced me to join a sorority, and it was the best decision I ever made.” She made relationships with people who gave her a sense of purpose, and people who were always there for her. Mireya found a place where she felt comfortable to be herself and make lifelong friends.
With all of the places she lived, San Antonio felt the most like home because of the people she met, and the memories she made. It was a place that she connected to, and a place that had people who helped her get through the time without her family. Mireya found herself in this city, and grew into the person she is now. She grew stronger, and made stronger connections with her family and friends.
Mireya is now a senior and has to move on to her next adventure. She will most likely move to Georgia for school, but she says that her memories of Texas will never leave. “While I am leaving Texas soon, if I had the opportunity to move back, I would, but maybe a smaller town. A town that has a quiet, slow, country environment.” Texas will always hold a special place in Mireya’s heart and she will never forget how much the people in San Antonio, and the city itself, helped her become the person she is today.
Thalia Galindo is a freshman with a forensic science major, with a minor in biology, at St. Mary’s University. In her free time, she enjoys reading, playing soccer, and on occasion drawing or painting. She is thankful to her parents and sister for always inspiring, and pushing her to her best self. Her dad is in the military, so she has moved around many times throughout her life. Although most of her family lives in San Antonio, she has never lived there until she moved to college. Out of the many places that Thalia lived, her favorite place was where she graduated--Naples, Italy.
Posted March 03, 2020
TAGGED WITH: St. Mary's University, stmarytx.edu
