Moving away from college can be a big adjustment for everyone. We're all trying to figure out who we are and what we want to do with our lives while slowly learning what it means to be on our own for the first time.  

For most international students like me, this change comes with an extra set of challenges. We didn't just move out of our parent's house and our hometowns. We left our country, language, culture and the community we've grown up with our whole lives.

When I first arrived at Chapman, I thought I would find a community in the Latinx Club with people who understand my culture. However, due to scheduling conflicts with my classes, I couldn't attend any of the meetings. 

When the first semester of my freshman year rolled around, I was alone in this new place, surrounded by strangers and seemingly no way to find my people.

Then I would get pictures from my parents and friends back home at family events, on vacation or just having fun. All I could do was miss the things I left behind in Mexico. I missed my language, my friends, my family and all the traditions that I've taken for granted my entire life.

That year for the first time in my life, I didn't eat tacos on Sept. 15 to celebrate the independence of Mexico. I stopped being there for all the family meals, and didn't get to drive my brother to the airport when he left for school.

But I didn't notice that I was already forming my own traditions. I went fountain hopping before my first day of school. I had game nights with my friends that quickly became a weekly tradition, and I even made a small-scale altar in my room to commemorate the Day of the Dead.

In my time at Chapman, I've discovered that all you need to form a community is to find the right people and traditions will develop later.

In my time since I got here, I've traded the Independence Day celebration for monthly visits to the bookstore with my roommate and family dinners with lunch at the caf with my friends.

At Chapman, I have the rare opportunity to build my community from scratch. I get to define what my life will look like going forward, but I also get to try new things and make mistakes. 

Finding community in college is not about replicating what you left behind. It's about making your own traditions, finding your people, choosing which parts of the life you left behind you want to keep and adapting them to fit the life ahead.