You might not all know this but I’m an international student at UMW. I moved here 7 months ago. The place I call home is Honduras, its where I was born, where I grew up and where my family and friends live. Unlike many of the people I have met here, they live around 1 to 3 hour drive from school meaning they can visit their family on the weekends if they would like to. The only times I get to see my family are over Christmas break and hopefully around 3 weeks this summer.
The main form of contact I maintain with my family and friends is WhatsApp. I text my family and Honduran friends through the use of this application on my phone. To many, it doesn’t sound like a way that the internet has had an impact on me, but you have to understand that I don’t get to see these key people in my life as much as I would like to.
In WhatsApp I have various groups with my family and my friends. It is our way to keep ourselves updated on whats happening around us. One of my groups in WhatsApp is made up of my extended group of friends, here we are constantly updating each other on random things. Most of my friends here study in the US, and it is through here how we tell the way our college lives are coming to be. For example, one of my friends is studying in LA and she told us about the earthquake as soon as it happened and how scared she was. WhatsApp is a way for us to feel safe and support each other in the new chapter of our lives.
In the WhatsApp group with my dad, mom, and my brother they are always telling me what they are up to and they’re constantly sending me pictures of their Sunday lunches (a tradition in my family since we are always so busy to eat together during the week, that we made it obligatory to go to lunch on Sundays) they are the best and we always enjoy them. They are also letting me know how business is going and how the rest of my family is doing. I update my family on my academics and any struggles I might have at school in the US.
Given my situation the place I should call home would be the internet, its the place where I remain in contact with the people I love and have stuck with me throughout the years.
Here is a screenshot from my family’s WhatsApp group. My brother got 2nd place in a golf tournament a couple of weeks ago and he posted a picture of the things he won. You can see my mom saying “I love you” in Korean to my brother and my dad telling him “My champ” in Spanish and me telling him I’m proud of him in English. Even though we are using 4 different types of communicating with one another: Korean, Spanish, English and media, we are all supporting my brother through this WhatsApp group. As I said it doesn’t matter where we are or the way we say it, WhatsApp helps me maintain my relationship with my living family stronger than ever.