The initial experience is jarring at first. I grudgingly hauled my belongings back upstairs to the bedroom where I spent my childhood. After the long five-hour drive back to Braintree in my gold Mercury Sable packed with tangible memories of the four years spent at Syracuse University, I came home to a bedroom painted in blinding seafoam-green paint, a ruffled pink comforter inhabited by random stuffed animals, and a dresser covered in photos from my high school dance recitals. Oh boy, here we go.

Most recent college graduates (myself included), share a common response upon realizing they belong to a group referred to as boomerang babies--loosely defined as a twenty-something who, after graduating from college, returns home to live with his or her parents.

The initial reaction combines healthy doses of humiliation, shame, reluctance, and the occasional hint of self-loathing. In fact, during my senior year of college, I felt that admitting to one's boomerang baby status was the modern day equivalent to sporting a scarlet letter.

I adamantly refused to re-invade the nest everyone thought I had permanently vacated, and I thought little of the looming recession. I had big plans ahead of me-New York City was calling my name, and where else would I rather be to start by career as a journalist?

As time passed, and my last semester at Syracuse University neared its end, more and more seniors received fewer and fewer calls back from potential employers. The economy was not looking too promising, and we all questioned how far our degrees would take us.

Panicked and frustrated, I quickly accepted my first job offer at a publishing house in Boston-my hometown. This was not part of the plan. I had spent four years away, living on my own in the tiny collegiate bubble I mistook for the real world, and now I had to return home? I had previously anticipated that by May 2008, I would be apartment-hunting in the Lower East Side.

Fortunately for us twenty-somethings that have moved back in with our parents after graduation, the boomerang term has evolved into one that is associated with fiscal responsibility.

With the economy at a steady decline, many college students weighing their post-grad options consider moving back in with mom and dad a viable alternative to wasting away in a studio apartment the size of a closet consuming nothing but Ramen Noodles.

Keeping this in mind, I began with feng shui fixes.  If I was going to live in my old bedroom, I'd be damned if the stuffed animals stayed. I needed balance, and more importantly, I needed to feel like I was in control.

Cleaning and re-organizing functioned as therapy. I gave my bedroom a pint-size extreme makeover in record time; in a sense, I purged, refreshed, and rebooted, tossing out unnecessary clutter, making room for an uncertain future.

The overwhelming sense that I was taking one step forward and two steps back by moving home after graduation gradually lifted as I began working. The nine-to-five way of life certainly throws you for a loop after running on college time for four years.

Soon though, I fell into a routine, and to be honest, the comfort of home and the support of my parents seemed imperative. I had health insurance, a 401k, and I went out for drinks with co-workers after work. When did I decide to grow up?

Nearly nine months since graduation have passed, and I've finally given myself a deadline where I will gently discard my boomerang baby label, and seek out the tiny, cramped apartment that I can call my own. It's something to look forward to, but as I've learned, plans change with or without advising your own personal agenda.

In retrospect, boomeranging, a move I originally deemed regressive was actually responsible, appropriate, and nothing to be ashamed of.  In fact, it has served as an important stepping stone to my future. 

For the time being, I enjoy living with my two current roommates, Mike and Deb, also known as mom and dad.

By Jamie Wilson

Jamie Wilson is a native of Braintree, Massachusetts, and a recent graduate of the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communication at Syracuse University. She currently works as an assistant editor at a publishing house in Boston.