Today is the first day of my Laidlaw Research Summer. At this stage, my research topic has shifted slightly from the proposal I submitted in my application as I continued to push myself to narrow such a complex topic (mainland Chinese immigrants’ decision to return home), define the key terms in my research question, and envision more carefully about the project’s feasibility. These changes to my research question make me a little nervous, but I am also very excited to see how the research develops. I’m very grateful for this opportunity and for this amazing cohort as I begin exploring the shared sentiment of “homesickness” in the context of immigration and return migration (while also spending the summer here in New York!)