There's No Place Like A Dorm Room For The Holidays. From Georgia Public Broadcasting.

It's final exam week for lots of college students. No doubt they're stressed right now, but once they hand in that last paper or take that last test, they're done for the semester. Pack up the suitcase and head home for the holidays. But for some college students many of whom are former foster youth that's not quite what happens.

"I have no for-certain home, that's the thing," says Trudy Greer, a 22-year-old sophomore at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Mich. She says she's had a lot of folks at EMU ask her where she lives, curious to know where her home is.

"I just say, 'This is my home.' Like, wherever I am, that is where my home is," Greer says. "Home is where the heart is, and right now my heart is at EMU."

Greer hasn't lived with her parents in years; she's been in and out of foster care. She says she always feels like she has to hustle for everything clothes, food, money and the holidays are a stark reminder of just how alone she often feels.

"Last break, like last year, I was at my old foster home, and I stayed there and it's always welcoming, but it's never like 'my home,' " Greer says.

Holiday break is something students look forward to, a time to enjoy the holidays and be joyful ... right?

"Yeah, it's supposed to be," Greer says, "but I haven't had a joyful Christmas in years."


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