J:!~(;,t!!t.ijo_i~g.the,definition of home ~s -~:,collegestudent

• h Last • weelc' dia turnpike when my phone rang again. ".fin:>! 'sometime be- 1 1 11iis time I found it was my agitated moth),.; i fhvee·n my 8: 15 .J eron the other end. "I hear more from your '; on Tuesday friends than I do from you. Are you coming morning and my home?"

rived safely.

"Come home." Are you kidding? I had just arrived and already they were asking· me to come back? I said, "I miss you already." I explained to Danielle that everyone wanted me to go back home.

"You are home;' she said, and shuffled me into the kitchen, By this point my weekend hadn't even started and I was ready to pull out my hair.

Jen Smith

staff writer

12:30 Thursday "No mom," I sighed. "I'm going to see afternoon, my Danielle at school." She sounded particularcell phone ·rang. ly wounded by this comment. "But Cal-U is Having the mod- only 20 minutes from the house. I haven't em day luxury of seen you since July, Jen. Please stop by." It caller ID, I knew wasn't that I didn't want to see her. I miss immediately that my family very much, but I could tell alit was my best ieady that this weekend was not going to be friend from home. I hadn't seen her in the relaxing good time I had hoped for. I months. promised I would come home and hung up that day. I visited with my high school friends, in the houses I remember, dtiving around in the cars that have always driven us around. I was happy to see them, and happy to leave at the end of the night. And at the end of the weekend, a few sad goodbyes and a very long drive, I found myself coming up the main entrance of Cabrini College.

I've found however, the best ideas in life usually come out of nowhere at all, and so despite the urging of my roommate to stay, I grabbed a suitcase, changed the oil in my car, put on my sunglasses and was on my way.

I wasn't five minutes on the Pennsylva- morrow."

Another hour down the highway brought another call. I was by this time preparing to lob my cell phone right out of the car window onto the nation's highway. "Hello?Yes, I'm corning home. Homecoming is this weekend, huh? Really? Amanda I haven't been back to the high school since graduation and I.. .alright. I'll call you when I get in tonight. No I'm staying at Dan's, at Cal. Yep. Alright, bye."

"Come out here this weekend. I won't the phone with an "I love you. See you totake no for an answer." Having had one of the historically worst weeks of my life at that point I was up for a change, even if it meant a five-hour drive back home. "All right." was the first response that came to mind. "I'll be there on Thursday." That answer surprised even me. I usually wasn't up for the long drive back to Pittsburgh, and especially in the midst of my midterm exams and reports, this trip was if nothing else, poorly timed.

I arrived at California University of Pennsylvania a long five hours later and got out of my car happy to have hundreds of miles between myself and Cabrini College for a change. I hugged my best friend, put down my stuff and proceeded to call everyone I knew from school to tell them I'd ar-

I guess I never really thought about my definition of home.I refer to my best friend's house as my home during the summer, because it is where I usually sleep. I refer to Cabrini as home because it is where I live all year, and as for my parents' house in Pittsburgh, I grew up there. It is my home. Or is it their home? It has been over a year since I lived there, and I may never live there again. So what exactly does that make it to me?

It wasn't until I got to college that I was ever forced to consider the meaning of this complicated word. Home I've found is not necessarily the place where your family lives. It is definitely not the place where you grew up, and home is certainly not the only place where the heart is. So what is it?

Well if I learned anything from my trip last weekend, it is the answer to this question. I went to my parent's house, in the town I grew up, to the bedroom I lived in for 18 years, to the family I love. I was happy to be there, and happy to leave at the end of

I suddenly had a feeling unlike any I'd ever experienced driving through those iron Gates at the end of my weekend. I felt a sense of belonging. This is where I wanted to be. This is the home I have chosen. Although it may not have the history of my bedroom. the fun memories of my town, or the familiar faces of the people I grew up with, it has a whole new scenery, an incredible group of relatively new friends, and a promising future down the road of my life. And as I was driving that slow 15 mph up Cabrini's windy driveway my cell phone rang for the last time that weekend. This time it was my roommate. "I miss you," she said. "When are you coming homer'

A smile came across my face as I turned left onto Residential Boulevard past the dorms I had been sick of seeing for so long. I felt an overwhelming sense of comfort fill my heart. I beeped at some people I recognized walking past House one and turned up the driveway of House three. All that I could say in response to that question was, "I am home."

Simple pleasures that cause the frown to turn upside down

My roommate Katie borrowed a book from her friend the other week. It was called "1400 Things to Be Happy About." I began to read it, Renee Tomcanin and it listed simmanaging editor pie things that make you smile. Yes, many of these items did bring a smile to my lips, but there are many other things that make me a happy kid. So, since we're in that slump between fall break and Thanksgiving, just having taken midterms and gotten them back and considering the state of world affairs today, I thought we could all use something to smile about. So here is my list of things that make me smile and hopefully you too

Fuzzy blankets: These are otherwise known as Velux: blankets to most people, you know, the ones that are between the sheet and the bedspread in most hotels. There can be nothing better than wrapping your tired self (or even your regular self) up in one of these on a cold evening, especially if the blanket is right out of the dryer.

Finding $10 in your pocket: Enough said. We all need money, and ten dollars is a good amount, no matter who you are. It is the perfect amount of money that can provide many'things. You can go get a midnight snack at Minella's or a Shorty at Wawa. If you have an extra five or six dollars lying around, you can get a CD or something else fun for yourself, and there is that added joy of finding something worthwhile.

A new box of Crayola crayons: I took this one right from the book, but it is very true. I love to color. Coloring alone should make you smile, but consider how true this is. You open the box, and that fresh scent'of wax and just crayon happiness is there. Each color is in its place according to color scheme, new, sharp and ready to color in the finest places in Blue's coloring adventures. You know exactly where Robin's Egg Blue and Jungle Green are. Your Black is not worn down to the nubbin. Life is good.

Pajama pants: Again, a fabric thing. Ever since they put pockets in them, I require no other leg covering. They are comfortable, soft, breathable, did I mention comfortable? The best part is you can roll out of bed and go straight to class. Plus, they have fun designs on them.

A good conversation: We are so busy. When do you have the time to sit and chat with a friend or even a stranger? That chance seems so rare that when we do have a nice conversation, it can make our day, even our week. So, if you are having a so-so day, I highly suggest finding someone to talk to.

Getting a good grade on a test that you thought you did horribly on: No need to elaborate here.

Going to the cafeteria and finding something you like to eat: Chicken nugget day! It brings a smile to everyone. It seems that we are stuck in routine when we go to the Wigwam or the Caf, so when they serve something unusual that we love, like manicotti, it is a great day.

A phone call/letter from the last person you expected: Everyone loves phone calls. Everyone loves the mail. When it is from • l" . ' someone unexpected, the day is just brighter.

And finally, for my roommates, a hippo bedtime story: We all love bedtime stories, no matter bow old we are.

I hope I "made you smile for a little while," to quote a Flock of Seagulls. It is nice to know that with all the stress we face, little things can make us feel better.

Speak Up

Commentariesand letters to the editor may be submittedby the entire Cabrini campus communityto Theloquitur @hotmail.com

-Requirements:Nameswill not be withheld from letters to the editor or commentaries,even at the author's request.A phone number must be includedwith the submission.

Letter to the Editor: Fed up with the attitude of

Hey Cabrini!

After four years of reading the Loquitur every Thursday and hearing everyone's responses to all the campus happenings, I only have one thing to say: SHUT THE HELL UP!

All you people do is complain and personally I am getting very tired of it. Is there anything on this campus that makes any of you happy? Does almost everyone make it his or her destiny to find something to nag about on campus? This school is becoming a real-life soap opera-little unimportant things become major topics. I don't know how many students there are that agree with me, if any, but the endless complaining is getting very old, very quickly. The only positive thing that comes out of anyone's mouth on this campus is "how happy they are when they go home for the weekend, so they can get out of this crap hole." My opinion is, if you don't like it, then go somewhere else! In response to that statement, everyone I know who has done just that has returned to Cabrini because they realized what they really had when they were here.

Yes, I too have some complaints about Cabrini. Some of them are equal to everyone else's but I don't spend my life pondering why things happen on this campus, nor do I waste a second of my life thinking, 'This isn't fair, we spend money for our education, we should get what we pay for," which happens to be the most common complaint.

So what if there are speed bumps? Go over them slowly; you won't hurt your car. Those speed limit signs are not just for decoration.

So what if you have to park in the Dixon Center lot? Yeah, it's further away than the Widener lot, but guess what? Walking burns calories. Here's another way to