2025/Maya-

To be honest, sometimes it doesn’t feel like I have a home. As a military child, I have to move around a lot. I have had to leave many places where I have felt at home, but home doesn’t have to be a singular place. For me, it’s the people, like my family, friends, and community that make a home.

A home is a place where you can always come back to, where you feel like yourself, and where you feel happy. This “home’’ I’m talking about is my family and friends. Since I have moved around a lot, I have been able to meet new people and experience new things. However, I don’t feel like I ever have had a singular home because I have had many! But the people around me are my home. My family and friends have always been at my side. They have been there to experience those new things with me. And those experiences make me, well, me!

There are certain places where I don’t feel like I belong, or I don’t feel like I’m myself, like when I feel super stressed, or nervous. There are places or things that make me not feel that way, like my hobbies. My hobbies make me who I am and they make me happy, like a home does! An example of this is music. Since I was very young, I have always remembered having music all around me. Music, like my family, brings me joy. I know I can always express myself when I play, too. This is important to me because there aren’t a lot of places in my life I could express myself. Like at school I don’t want to embarrass myself, or do something wrong. But when I’m home, with my family who I feel comfortable with, I know I can be myself without being judged. And that’s how music makes me feel. Whenever I’m playing the piano, singing, or maybe just listening to music, I feel at peace, or calm. Music is a really big part of who I am, much like how my family is a big part of me. This is what a home is: it is a place of happiness where you can be yourself in places you can’t.

Having my “home” allows me to have my own safe harbour. So having your own home established can be a foundation to help you do hard things, like going out in the world and facing challenges. Having this can help me to know I always have something to come back to that can help me get back up again and keep moving forward. This is obviously different for everybody. For some, it's a physical structure. For me, a home is both emotional and physical.

My home is where my loved ones are, and where I feel like myself. Without it, I don’t know where my home would be.