Pittsburgh is the protagonist in the story of my life.

The most immediate change I noticed about myself was the increase in hometown pride I acquired since I left Pittsburgh - which is actually shocking considering the amount of hometown pride I had before. The combination of actually being away from home, the Pirates going to the playoffs for the first time in 21 years, the Steelers not being broadcast on television, and not being surrounded by anyone that knew Pittsburgh is the best city in the entire world (it's true, I could prove that shit in a lab), made subtle changes in me, like suddenly getting upset when I had to miss a hockey game, as well as large scale ones in the form of homesickness. I never went to camp as a kid, and had never spent more than two weeks away from home. I hate traveling and generally opted to spend most of my breaks in Pittsburgh. I've never moved houses - when my parents got divorced I stayed with my mom in the house in which I grew up, and I've never changed schools - I went to Winchester Thurston from kindergarten until graduation. Therefore, I've known little change in my life and had no conception of what the homesickness would be like. It often manifests itself into a physical illness where I feel exhausted and unable to get out of bed. There are crying spells, headaches, and severe anxiety that accompany being away from home for the first time in my life, and it's difficult to explain to teachers that I can't go to class or do my assignment because I saw a picture of the Fort Pitt tunnel and needed to take a couple of hours to myself. All of my anxiety about college was focused on making friends and keeping up with classes, and I had no emotional preparation for missing Pittsburgh. I think what people don't understand is that I don't miss my parents, or my friends, or even my cat, to the extent that I miss the city itself. 

Although my cat is a close second

That place is my rock, my home. And I think one of the biggest changes I've made in college that has been a product of all this is that now I know once I finish school (I plan to go to grad school, wherever that may be), I'll be returning to Pittsburgh to settle down for good. Going into college even just a couple months ago I had this sense of "My life is starting now. I could end up anywhere," and that was terrifying and not a feeling I loved, but now all of that is gone. Of course there are variables - I might fall in love with someone not from Pittsburgh (if I could ever get over that major character flaw), I might not be able to find sufficient work in Pittsburgh or be offered a job somewhere else, but for now it's nice to imagine that after 8 years of doing whatever I need to do to reach my goal, I'm going back to the city. My brother graduates college this year and he's moving back to Pittsburgh immediately after for his job. I know that this doesn't sound like a huge character change, but every part of me has been influenced by my love of home, and I genuinely believe that my feelings about Pittsburgh and its role in my life and future is the biggest change that I have discovered in myself since coming to college.

Do yourself a favor and google this skyline