A younger sibling will become an only child. Laughter that once echoed through the living room will disappear for months. An empty chair at dinner will only remind parents that the childhood years have flown by. For families, a child leaving home to become independent at college can be an empty, emotional experience, but for students leaving, the exit is nothing less than bitter sweet.
Pamela Ordonez, a senior certain that she is leaving her childhood home to be independent in a college dorm, will only be living 45 minutes away in San Marcos but will surely feel symptoms of home sickness.
” I am anxious to leave and make my own decisions without my parents, but i’ll miss my family” Ordonez,12, said. ” I’ll especially miss my dad’s daily dorky sense of humor.”
For other students leaving home, families will endure more than one long term departure. For Jeci Luckado’s family twice the goodbyes will be said.
“I might be going to TCU and I am looking forward to being on my own but my mom is also is leaving to transfer to Killeen,” Luckado,12, said. “She is an Army nurse and will later be deployed to Afghanistan, my dad is really sad about being all alone.”
Though starting a new chapter is exhilarating, the plan after high school is not always college, but expanding knowledge and experience in world relations on the front lines of other countries. Wanting to leave home is such an uplifting experience and even more so when devoting youth to protect our country.
“I want to go into the Marines for the experience in life and I like the idea of being off independent in some random place,” Ben Malone,12, said. “My parents are okay with me leaving but they really just want me to go to college instead.”
Not every family member will miss the ones who leave them. They figure some extra space and a little more allowance might be acceptable when their siblings are sent away.
“My sister wants me out of the house so she can have a bigger room,” Ordonez said. “My oldest sister is already out of the house so she will be an only child, but I know she will miss me.”
No matter how anxious a student is to become independent, tears will well up as they drive away, leaving childhood behind in their bedrooms. It will be the first face to face experience with adulthood.
