Written by Zeal Dobariya, Converge multimedia journalism intern and Senior at Gwinnett School of Math, Science & Technology (GSMST)
When I think about home, there are many things that come to mind including the laughter of my family as we play board games, the smell of freshly baked cookies that my mother makes and much more.
Before the pandemic and quarantine started, my family rarely spent time at home. We all had work, school or extracurriculars that took up much of our time. This meant we spent barely any time at home.
During quarantine, I came to appreciate the time I spent at home. I was able to spend more time with my family and grow closer to my sister. Even though I haven’t spent much time in the house that I live at now, I believe that “home” is not where you are living but more about the people and things you interact with. Without my family, I cannot think of any place that could be a “home.” Although I spend the majority of my time at school, I consider it a workplace and not home.
I have lived in many cities and each place felt like home because of the relationships that I built in each city. For example, for most of my life, I lived in Kansas. I grew up with the kids I went to elementary school with and the kids I went to middle school with. I felt like I knew everyone in the town. In that aspect, Kansas felt like my home.
Even when I moved to Atlanta, I created a new group of friends that made me feel like I am at “home.” To sum everything, “home” isn’t necessarily the physical place that you are living, it is more about the relationships around you.
