Becoming My Own Support System: What I Learned Living Away from Family
The goal of this blog is to talk about how I built my own support system while living away from home and my family, so that you might learn how you can do the same. Arcadia offers many resources that everyone should take advantage of. For example, I like to talk with my professors during office hours. A professor is very important to build a relationship with because not only will they help you with your academics, but they will also help you with real-life, especially when you need a letter of recommendation in the future. In the Arcadia community, everyone wants you to succeed in every path that you choose. I remember the first time I lived on campus, I talked with my RA a lot, especially when I missed home or had an issue I didn’t know how to solve.
Home is where you once dreamed of leaving to experience the world, only to realize later, sometimes, that part of your heart never left. Living far away from home sometimes can be very challenging. This is my fourth year living away from my family and my second year living independently on campus.
I still remember the feeling of saying goodbye to my family as I departed from Cambodia to pursue my education here. It was so emotional, but now, when I look back, it was worth it. This journey is long, but it’s worth it, and it’s changed me into a better person. In my first two years in the States, I lived with my aunt and uncle, about 40 minutes from the Arcadia campus, but in the summer after my freshman year, I started living on campus. I used to dream about what it would be like to live independently at school when I was young. On move-in day, I was so excited and nervous because I had never lived on campus before, and my family was a little concerned, too, since I had never lived alone before. The hardest moment for me was loneliness during the first few weeks. Since I moved in during the summer, the campus was quiet, and there weren’t many activities. However, at the same time, I also decided to volunteer at the nearby hospital, and still made time to call my parents, my aunt, and my uncle.
After the move-in, my aunt and uncle left, and that is when I started to feel more independent. It was a little tough at first. When I lived with my parents or my aunt and uncle, when I got home, food was always ready for me, so I didn’t have to think about what should cook and when. Now that I’m living alone, I’ve started to take all of that into consideration. Before, I was always scared to go to the supermarket to buy something, but I had to learn to because I needed to cook for myself.
Something that helped me to become more self-disciplined was planning things and my daily routine. I know this might not be for everyone! I use Google Calendar to list everything on it, including any assignments, tasks, classes, and meetings I have that day. It takes some time to create a habit, but once you do it every day, you will get used to it very quickly. I always open my calendar every morning and night to see if I missed anything from yesterday and decide what I should do today.
The lesson I learned from my experience is that good things take time to work out, which is why a support system is essential. A support system can help you a lot when you struggle. When I struggled with my science in my first year, my professor was always there for me when I asked for help. Living away from home is never smooth forever; there’s always some obstacle that you will face along the way. However, Arcadia has a ton of resources that you should take advantage of, including being a small community that is easy to connect with and counseling services.
Every experience I encounter guides me to discover new things I enjoy. Though it might seem scary, give things a try, because if you don’t give it a try, you will not know whether you like that thing or not. I didn’t even know I liked writing a blog until I got the chance to apply in my freshman year, and I absolutely enjoy it. Now, it’s become one of my habits: when I have free time, I like to play music on YouTube and open my device to write something new.
When you face any obstacle, never forget your call and your motivation for what you want to become. Each of us has different goals, but please never forget your why, your focus, and the reason you are here. Living away from home taught me a ton of lessons that I would never have found or gotten anywhere else. I now know how to live independently, how to enjoy life in the present, what my why and purpose are, and who to reach out to when I need help.
