by Leslie Fagin '92
Thomas Wolfe, famous author, borrowed the following phrase from a writing colleague. She said to him, "You can't go back home to your family, back home to your childhood ... back home to a young man's dreams of glory and of fame ... back home to places in the country, back home to the old forms and systems of things which once seemed everlasting but which are changing all the time – back home to the escapes of Time and Memory." Ella Winter said it, Thomas Wolfe wrote it, and I disagree with it.
You can go home again. You should go home again. Home is where we first dreamed of our futures. Home is where we made friends who would be with us forever, though not always as close, yet with us in spirit. Home is where we learned to take care of ourselves and others. Home is where we gained our sense of identity, of purpose, of belonging. For me, home has been two places although I lived in eight houses by the time I was 13. For me, home was 1922 Amberwood Court Griffin, Georgia and 1600 Maple Street Carrollton, Georgia. The former was the house my parents purchased after my father retired from the United States Army. The latter simply is West Georgia College, the State University of West Georgia, and now, the University of West Georgia.
I call it home because it is one of two places where I gained my sense of identity, purpose, and belonging. Twenty-three years later, it is still home. I get the same feeling every time I drive into Carrollton via Highway 16. When I see the old familiar sight of the Carroll County Jail as I top the hill coming from the east, I get a smile on my face, and all is well in my world because I am home. Coming home allows me to connect with new friends on the Alumni Association Board. It allows me to witness first-hand the incredible changes to our campus. It allows me to watch the Blue Coats shine in their well-deserved positions as university ambassadors. Coming home allows the young woman I was to see that her dreams were realized.
You should come home, again. You will get that same feeling. Come home to reunite with old friends and make some new ones. Come home. Come West.
Leslie Fagin '92 is an alumni board member and chair of engagement committee.
