By Luciana Mendes
Staff Writer

Like many seniors, after a heated argument with my mom I find myself thinking how ready I am to get out of the house finally and go off to college at the furthest school possible. However, I’ve been starting to think distance is really not such a great idea for me. In the past ten days that my mom has been in Brazil visiting my grandmother I’ve realized just exactly how attached I am to my family.

When I first found out my mom was going to Brazil without me I was devastated. Not by the fact that she was leaving me, but rather because of the fact that nothing makes me happier than visiting my family in Sao Paulo. However, my mom knew I couldn’t simply pick up and miss ten consecutive days of school, so she went alone.

I’m not ashamed to admit it. My mom is my very best friend. I trust her with everything and I thoroughly enjoy spending time with her. However, we do fight frequently and she gets on my nerves just about as often as I get on hers. Actually, the day before she left we got into a little dispute (over something I can’t even recall now), so driving her to the airport, I was actually a bit excited for her temporary absence. One thing I was nervous about, however, was spending the next ten days with my dad.

Ever since I can remember, my dad’s work has taken him on business trips on a weekly basis. Although he and I are very close, there is still a distinct difference in my relationship with him versus that of which I have with my mom. However, spending the past ten days with him has been a blast.

Trying to fill my mom’s shoes by cooking, doing laundry, washing dishes for the whole family really challenged my independence and readiness to live on my own without having to order Chinese take-out every night. Actually, I think I’ve done pretty well. We’ve eaten omelets for breakfast, burgers and veggies for lunch, and some sort of grilled chicken or salmon with a side-salad for dinner- pretty impressive if I may say so myself.

However, it’s not the same as having my mom in the house. I definitely missed her more than I thought I would. I wasn’t able to tell her exciting things that happened to me during the day like the fact I was accepted into the University of Alabama and that I got asked to homecoming. I couldn’t even talk to her about the things that were bothering me during those ten days. It just made me really appreciate having her there all the time to turn to.

Her being in Brazil is completely different than when I’m in college. However, it gave me a different perspective on how it would be to not have my family around. In college, I know I will be able to Skype with my family and communicate through phone calls and e-mails, but it’s still not the same as being able to be face to face. Not that I want to stay and live at home forever… I am more than ready to go out on my own. However, I do want to go somewhere close enough that I can come home for the weekend without having to spend 16 hours in the car. I’m so glad I figured out now that distance would take such a toll on me rather than when it’s too late and I’m unloading my life into an unfamiliar dorm room thousands of miles away.