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This is a discussion topic for the February 2025 Book of the Month, "They Love You Until You Start Thinking for Yourself" by Monica Omorodion Swaida.

How did "They Love You Until You Start Thinking for Yourself" make you think about the meaning of "home"?

Rather than making me think about the meaning of "home"; it reminded me that even if you are in a country other than the one you were born in, you need to establish a home. When you have settled in a place (whether it is a new country, a new city, or just a new neighborhood), when you have found your own landmarks, when people around you accepted you and you made new friends, call that place home.

Monica Omorodion Swaida’s memoir, They Love You Until You Start Thinking for Yourself, prompted a profound reflection on the concept of “home.” Her journey as an immigrant teenager navigating new cultures and facing adversity challenges the traditional notion of home being tied to a specific place. Instead, Swaida’s experiences suggest that home is more about personal growth, resilience, and the communities we build around shared experiences and open-mindedness.

From this book I came to understand that home is beyond a building, or an environment you have resided for so long. A home stems from a surrounding where you feel accepted, and motivated to pursue you goals as a result of the support present in that place.

This book made me learn that home is where one finds love. In the United States, as mentioned by the author, everyone lived their own life like in Africa where a child is raised by the whole village. Children in Africa also feel corrected with love whenever they make mistakes while in America the system makes them think that punishment is a crime.