Timothy Wang, a second-year architecture student, has won one of four educational scholarships from the Enterprise Community Partners’ “What Does Home Mean to You?” A Multimedia Contest for Youth. His 600 word-essay was the first assignment in Professor Carla Keyvanian’s Architecture History class this past fall. Wang wrote about the three places that were home to him: the house in Huntsville where he grew up; Beijing where some of his family lives; and Auburn, which he now considers home. Enterprise Community Partners, a national nonprofit organization that provides expertise for affordable housing and sustainable communities, sponsored this competition in celebration of its 30th anniversary. They sought inspiring and creative answers to the question “What Does Home Mean to You?” from young voices in communities across the country.

Tim Wang’s essay:

What Does Home Mean to You?

Home is where you love and are loved.  It is where you feel secure and can be yourself.  Home is when a simple greeting from a friend brings pleasant memories, when you can take walks in the night and watch the stars without feeling awkward, when people miss you if you skip a meal.  Home is not only where, but also when and who.  Home is family.  Family are people any age that look forward to your returning home.  They hate it when you are miserable and try their best to brighten up your day.  When it is a good day, they rejoice with you.  When tragedy strikes, they mourn with you.  When you need to talk, they are there; not only to listen, but to feel with you and do their best to help.   

Home is a place where family and memories intertwine.  Home is Huntsville, where my parents always look forward to my trips home and prepare my favorite foods.  They take time from their busy schedules to take a walk in the night with me, play a board game, or just simply talk.  It is where memories of my childhood are stored: my first day of school, first car, first date, first dance.  Huntsville is where my foundations were formed, the launching pad of my life. 

Home is also Beijing where my aunt and uncle reside.  They look forward to my short rare visits and try to cram as much of everything as they can so I can experience not only their love, but their culture.  Beginning with my first grade year, I have been back to Beijing every stage of my life from childhood to young adulthood. Each time I return, the previous memories remain but I find that the city has advanced and aged along with my aunt and uncle.  As I mature and grow, I discover a parallel between the ongoing stages of my life and the progression of the city and my family.  

And now I have yet another home in Auburn, where I go to college.  Auburn is where I have made lasting friends of my own choice; and where I am pointing my life in a lifelong direction.  Auburn is where I go to the grocery store by myself, socially independent and free.  Being home in Auburn is where my friends and I can skip sleeping just to watch shooting stars in the middle of nowhere.  We can go for what feels like forever and imagine the future while creating new memories.  Auburn is where I make beliefs my own and not just take the ones presented before me.  It is where I am figuring out that there is a bigger picture to life than just an education and a job.  Perhaps, it may be where I discover the purpose and meaning of my life. 

Home is many places, each connected to different stages and emotions of my life.  Home is Huntsville, Beijing, and Auburn.  Home is where I love and am loved.  It is a place and people I can always return to, where peace and security envelop me and it feels like I could stay there forever.  Home is more than a place. It is family and memories and a peace.