Between lectures and assignments, cherubs aren’t left with much time to miss home during the day. It’s at nighttime, when all goes quiet, that the homesickness can creep in. Some begin to miss the comfort of their own beds or their pets. Stuffed animals may not be a necessity on the packing list, but the cherubs who brought them were definitely happy with their decision.
“I have a pink blobfish stuffed animal that I got at an aquarium when I was little,” Calla Taylor of San Diego said. “His name is Bob and I’ve taken him on many, many trips with me.”
Taylor brought three stuffed animals in total, but didn’t find herself reaching for them after the first few days.
“I think I’ve gotten more confident within the program and more confident with being here away from home,” Taylor said.
Olivia Karp of Miami, on the other hand, realized she needed a stuffed animal after struggling the first few days.
“My love language is physical touch, and I desperately wanted to hug my mom and dad,” said Karp, who ultimately bought a jumbo bunny from a local comic store.
Some people, like Reanna Lee of Valley Village, California and Emerson Roux of Brooklyn, New York, had to get creative to fill the void.
For Lee, it was her dog’s hair on her clothes and a scratch on her arm from her cat.
“I can’t really fall asleep unless I’m hugging something, but I didn’t bring anything like that so it’s kind of in the little details like the dog hair,” said Lee, who acknowledged that while they serve as sweet reminders of home, they aren’t tangible in the way a stuffed animal is.
Roux wishes she had brought a stuffed animal.
“I have to just cuddle my sweatshirt,” she said, ‘and it’s not the same as a dog.”
