I recently asked one of my friends here at BC if he ever gets homesick and he responded with a definitive “no.” While I do think he was being purposefully facetious just to irk me, I did take a moment to consider how I’ve been more prone to homesickness than many of my peers. Most of my law school friends are from the area, with their families and close friends nearby. Meanwhile, my parents and many of my high school friends are back in Oregon, whereas the majority of my college friends from USC stayed in California. 

Amidst the myriad responsibilities of 1L fall and the three-hour time difference between coasts, trying to chat with friends and family on the other side of the country can sometimes feel like tying a message to a random pigeon’s leg, setting it free, and hoping for the best. Last week, I missed calls from both of my parents because I fell asleep while doing a particularly dense torts reading. College roommates who I used to meticulously debrief everything with in our shared kitchen are now much rarer correspondents. Sometimes, especially with it being pitch-dark by 5pm nowadays, these things inevitably leave me feeling a bit low.

Despite it all, I somehow feel more at home in Boston than I ever did during college in Los Angeles. In my experience, the novelty of Southern California’s perpetual sunshine wore off fairly quickly and started to feel more apocalyptic than anything else. Autumn in Boston has been beautiful, and even though everyone is rightfully warning me about the impending winter, there’s something lovely about a place with four distinct seasons. Strangely enough, I find this city endearing even when I’m screaming because the Boston wind has violently turned my umbrella inside out.

In just three months, Boston feels familiar to me in a way that LA never did. With public transportation, I’ve been able to explore different areas of the city and have more freedom to get from place to place. Having previously lived exclusively in areas built around cars, I’ve developed a fondness for the T (even when I’m complaining to anyone who will listen that a brisk walk would get me to my destination faster).

Beyond anything else though, the people here at BC Law have truly made the place. Law school is a completely different experience than undergrad when it comes to building a sense of community. My law school friends and I joke that we see each other more than anyone we’ve ever known in our lives, and that’s not far off from the truth. It’s no secret that law school is stressful, but what I didn’t realize before coming here was how much the various stressors would help all of us bond as opposed to driving us apart. 

These days, my life is full of long study sessions with friends, spontaneous walks around campus when we realize we’ve been sitting in the basement for hours, and a nearly excessive number of inside jokes in our group chats. Through these close bonds I’ve formed with the people around me and the routines I’ve adapted to, I’ve built a home for myself thousands of miles away from where I spent almost my entire life. Now, to get one step closer to being a true Bostonian, I need to figure out what the deal is with Dunkin’ coffee.

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Sydney Byun is a first-year student and brand new Impact blogger at BC Law. Contact her at byunsy@bc.edu.