My First Experience Away from Home

Assalamualaikum

Hi fellas..  

Glad to write a story again in this blog. So sorry for not being active for several weeks. It's because I was on the committee of the Sumatra English Olympiad 2020, and yeah it's the most hectic and biggest event of English Student Association (ESA) in English Department Universitas Riau.

Well, today's story is about my first experience away from home. Are you curious? Let's check it out! :))

My First Experience Away from Home

My first time away from home, when I graduated from junior high school. Since elementary school, I never expected to be away from home. I always thought to study at the school near my home because I was really afraid to go away from my family. I was afraid there would be no one to protect me. That's why I didn't want to leave my home. By the time, when I was in junior high school, I changed my mind. I wanted to continue my study in favourite school in my regency. The school is SMA Negeri Pintar Kabupaten Kuantan Singingi. This school is a boarding school. At the very beginning, I was confused about my decision. It took a long time until I decided to study there. My reasons why I decided to study there are because SMA Negeri Pintar has very good facilities and very good qualities in my regency. On the other hand, my other reason is to challenge myself to live alone and be independent. Since I decided to enter the school, I started to learn harder than before to make my dreams come true to be a student in SMA Negeri Pintar. I should follow certain tests before I became a student of SMA Negeri Pintar. Then, I spent many times to prepare myself to face all the tests. Fortunately, I was selected as the new student of SMA Negeri Pintar. I started to study and to live away from home. When I was there, I found so many things that make me realize being away from home is not always bad. It's also good and beneficial for me. Here, I'm going to talk about three things that  make me realize that going away is good.

Firstly, when I was to go away from home. I realized the new environment did not always bring a negative effect. On the other hand, it was really difficult to adapt in the new environment. As we know, when we live in a new environment, we need to adapt it there. Not only that, we should be ready to face the characteristics of the new environment. I still remember my first time sleeping in the dormitory. I didn't sleep because I felt uncomfortable and missed my family. It took a month to make myself feel comfortable with the new environment. At the moment, when i was uncomfortable, I tried certain ways to make myself comfortable. I started by saying to myself, I stayed here to make my dreams come true. Then, I followed all the activities. It made me busy and easy to forget home. When I went away from home and lived in SMA Negeri Pintar Kabupaten Kuantan Singingi. Which is a new environment for me. I realized from the new environment that I have faced, there are so many different characteristics in the new environment. When I was into it, I should be productive and take care of the new environment because it's really important for me.

Secondly, being away from home also taught me how to socialize with others and how to make relationships. When I was in senior high school. I learnt so many things about relationships and how to interact with others that have different characters, races, religions. It happens because in my school which is SMA Negeri Pintar has various students coming from certain backgrounds. At the beginning, I was confused and afraid of having new friends from different backgrounds. It was quite difficult to adapt with others. But, I tried my best to be more open and adapted than before. Finally, I can interact with others and we become more than friends which means we are family. When I found and made a new relationship there, I realized having a new relationship was really good. By making relationships, it can make us more aware about people around us. That's why away from home can make our awareness about people around us better than before.

Last, my first experience away from home taught me about other values in the society. It created a better personality for me. When I was in SMA Negeri Pintar Kabupaten Kuantan Singingi, I found so many values that I didn't find at home. Not only that, the activities in that school are also good for creating character building and personality. When I went from home and did all the activities by myself, it taught me about how to be independent. It also taught me to respect other things, such as food, money and so on. Away from home makes me closer to God and grateful for my life. Away from home also makes me more realistic than before. It's because I know the real condition and situation of life. That's why those values are really beneficial for me and I believe being away from home can be a solution for knowing and learning values of life.

My first time away from home is a memorable memory for me. That experience is a stepping stone for me. When I went from home, it made me realize that the real world is a difficult place. I need to survive by myself, handle everything by myself and face the new/strange environment, people and values. By facing those things make me wiser than before and I believe away from home is not always harmful.