Kyra Alexandria's UCSD Journal

"The only thing separating me from you is a mobile phone away and a trip you could make in a day" ~Bilal, For You

The above is the quote that I have decided will be my guidepost this coming school year. I've come to realize that homesickness will be my greatest foe. Otherwise, I believe I've found my niche on campus: I've made wonderful friends who I love and cannot wait to see again, I have an exciting and challenging job waiting for me, I have a volunteer experience that is close to my heart in place, and I am confident and comfortable in my major/minor as well as my career hopes after graduation, not to mention the involvement I want to seek in my coming years on campus.

Overall, I have created a life for myself in San Diego—one that I know will have me contentedly challenged. But, all of this knowledge does not make it any easier to leave behind the life I have here at home: my family and friends, my hometown, the excitement and ease with which I navigate the Bay, my favorite place in the world.

All of this brings me back to the above quote, taken from Bilal's spectacular debut album First Born Second. Purely because he's a fantastic musician, I've been listening to Bilal a lot recently. [Though I should say that Bilal will always be special to me, he's one of the few artists in my life who was never 'dated' and by that I mean, I don't hear his music and think of one specific time in my life. His musical repertoire grew with me: First Born Second was my childhood: Neo-soul meets hip hop and played often by my folks. Love for Sale was middle school: raw, passionate, a departure from his expected sound that grounded me when I was struggling in my personal life. Airtight's Revenge was the album of my first half of high school: revolutionary and punchy lyrically, it gave me the confidence to begin the ascent to my own opinions from those I had been taught my entire life. And A Love Surreal was the second half of high school: quirky, confident, and fun. This was the album I let rock me to sleep at night after it kept me dancing all day (seriously listen to West Side Girl one time). Bilal is certainly on a list of musicians who raised me and whose music continues to do so.] For You is one of my all-time favorite songs and I've listened to it hundreds of times easily before this summer (though this summer probably added another few dozen), but this line hit me hard for the first time in my listening history, I think because it seems extremely pertinent to me now. My friends, no matter their various institutions of higher education, and especially my family, home in Oakland, though separate from me, are never far if I pick up the phone. This school year, to combat my homesickness, I'm going to be more forthright about missing my family and bridge that gap as often as possible.

Wishing everyone a great summer!
XOX