By ELE GEOLY and CARLY RADEMACHER
Creighton Digital Storytellers

It’s 30 degrees outside. The South Carolinian, not ready to brace the freezing cold, slides into her ankle-length parka and wraps a scarf around her neck.

Meanwhile, the Minnesotan casually throws on a sweatshirt over her T-shirt and heads out of her dorm room. As the two crossthe threshold out of Swanson Hall, their feet meet the thin sheet of snow covering Creighton University’s campus.

For the South Carolinian, it’s the most snow she had ever seen in her life. The Minnesota doesn’t even notice the snow; she is focused on trying to figure out why all the plows had pushed the snow into the middle of Omaha’s main road. As both girls trek to their 8 a.m. classes, they each can’t believe how different this place is from home.

New students come to Creighton University from across the globe every year. In the freshman class of 2023 alone, 18% of students moved to Omaha from more than 1,000 miles away.

These new students arrived on campus equipped with new laptops, shower caddies and the idea that they were prepared to start their college life. But there was one thing missing from each of the online college checklists they spent hours going over with their moms: how to adjust to life in a new city.

The transition to college is one of the most difficult transitions of a young adult’s life, but no one ever talks about the transition that comes with moving to a different place with different weather, different accents, different food and even a different culture.

For current freshman Madi Barker, coming to Omaha from a suburb of Los Angeles has been more difficult in aspects she didn’t quite expect.

“People are slightly different. They’re nicer, but they have different beliefs, which I’m not used to.”

At the start of her second semester of college, Barker would call Creighton home, but “I wouldn’t call Omaha home right now.”

For senior Emily Peck, even though she is from the Midwest, Wheaton, Illinois to be exact, she felt that Omaha was more different from her home than she was anticipating. One of the things that surprised her was how Omaha had a small-town feel, even though it is a fairly big city.

“Everyone knows everyone here, I still can’t get over it… and what even is cinnamon rolls and chili,” Peck said. “I still argue with my parents trying to convince them it’s a real thing.”

Omaha isn’t New York or LA. It isn’t even the biggest city in the Midwest, but it isn’t just corn fields or cows. It is a hidden gem with a culture, a climate, and even a love of Husker football and Jays basketball that is all its own.

So, whether you’re from South Carolina, Minnesota or even somewhere outside of the United States altogether, if you’ve chosen to come live in Nebraska odds are you’ll be searching for one thing during your time here: how to make Omaha your Homaha.