While I was house hunting recently, there were some thoughts running around my head. One of them was wanting to have my own flat-a place where I can rest my head and my heart, and everything feels safe. After a tedious month of searching for a space to live-almost one step away from being a homeless person-I ended up living in the newly-built dorm located in front of HUFS.

I did not rest assured until the dormitory accepted me. All those sleepless nights got me looking back on my first year of college when no place on Earth felt like home. Even though I always have had places to return to after a tough day, I needed to bid farewell to them when each semester came to an end. Every home was no more than a stopgap for me. What made me sad was not the fact that I did not have my own house, but that there did not exist a place where I can feel “at home.”   

Moving to university can be a mixed-bag of pain and pleasure. Leaving high school and coming to Seoul all by myself was fun, but choosing which place to live in and budgeting my money was not. To start networking with new people was enjoyable, but having to leave my parents, family and home with all those beautiful memories of all those years together, was not. To go to university and be called an editor-in-chief was also enlightening, but to stay up all night to complete assignments and work in an empty room was not.

According to the first meaning listed on Cambridge Dictionary, the word “home” refers to ‘the house,’ as in where people live. However, home is not just a house or a building to me. On the inside, it is a lot more than wood and bricks. “Home” means much more. 

Home is where my hopes and dreams reside. Home is where I can show my real self. Home is where I can restore myself and move on. Coming to think of the meaning of home, I could not help but to be reminded of The Argus. I feel like The Argus has already become my second habitat, where I feel completely safe and sound. Not only did I spend a bunch of my time here in The Argus office, but also the people I met and worked with allow me the privilege to call them “home” too.
I am fortunate enough to be able to meet people who are on the same wavelength with me at The Argus. No one could perhaps understand why I feel this way. But one thing is true?my team breathed life into the space. I think, for the first time in a long time, this is where I am supposed to be. I am so happy to call it my second home.

There is no one meaning for the word “home.” If you are lucky enough to have one, though, what does it mean to you? 

By Moon Chae-un
Editor-in-Chief