On The Way Home Riley Vento ’27 There’s a heavy silence in the apartment I’m about to leave. The empty floors once filled with furniture start to look cold. The echo that can be heard when you yell in the hallways shocks me because it was never there before. I kept on waiting for my parents to tell me that we were not really moving and that it was all a joke, but that moment never came. Everyone was telling me that this is a chance for a new beginning, but I was not ready for that moment to come just yet. I did not want to leave the place that holds so many memories: good and bad. This apartment was a map of my childhood, and now we are leaving it all behind. I was not just saying goodbye to an apartment, I was saying goodbye to my childhood. Very slowly after the move I started seeing the silver lining in this situation. I really was starting a new chapter in my life. I started to become accustomed to my house and finally living in a house for the first time in my life. I found new comfort places and discovered a whole new way of living. I began to take pride in my house, inviting family and friends over so they can see it. I started to find joy in decorating my new room and seeing new cars in the driveway everyday knowing that someone else was here to work on making our house look even better. Moving out of my childhood apartment and into a new house made me realize that change is eventually going to occur in life. As a sophomore in high school, in less than a year I am going to be preparing for the biggest challenge and change in my life: college. Just like moving from an apartment to a house after living in it for 15 years, people grow old, graduate high school, get accepted into college, and start the rest of their adult life. In a way, leaving my childhood home is just a tiny step towards the biggest change I am going to have to make in my life. This experience has prepared me for bigger obstacles I will have to encounter and for new environments that I will have to eventually adapt to. 18
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