Driving away from Pullman this May was one of the harder things I’ve done in life. It felt as though something was ending. As we passed the GO COUGS barn heading back to the west side, I felt a pain in my chest.

The shocking reality that freshman year was done and 25 percent of college was over, was hitting me hard. Pullman is such a special place that as soon as you drive away, you begin to miss everything that makes it our perfect Pullman.  

The transition from college life to living back home with your parents is confusing and frustrating. You go from a life of no set rules and being independent to living back home in a very structured household. You can’t run down the hall at 2 a.m. to hang out with your friends, or order Jimmy John’s at midnight while you’re studying, or walk to Northside late at night to eat.

Everything changes when you come back home. Once again, we have curfews and so many questions as to where we’re going, who we’re seeing and when we'll be back. After living at college and being able to come and go anytime, anywhere, without questions makes being back with overprotective parents a challenge. You also miss all your college friends and not having them right at hand or five minutes away, at most. 

When I first got back home, I didn’t know what to do with my college stuff. Do I unpack it or leave it in the closet waiting until August? While your family and house has been home the past 18 years, it doesn’t feel quite the same. Pullman feels like home, even though we’ve been there less than a year.

Being home and not having anything to do is the worst possible way to spend your summer. I spent the first couple weeks before my job started bored out of my mind watching Gilmore Girls marathons and missing everything about WSU. Luckily, once I started my job, my days were filled and everything has started to move faster.

The best way to beat the summer blues is to keep yourself busy, whether you find a job, volunteer somewhere, schedule times to visit with your college friends, or just make the most of each day. It’s weird because most of the time when you’re at WSU you love it and don’t want to be anywhere else, but you miss your family. When you get home, they’re ecstatic to see you while you mope around not wanting to unpack and wishing freshman year had lasted just a little while longer.

It’s hard to explain to outsiders why we all love Pullman so much, but it truly is a magical place where we are lucky enough to spend our four college years. Each day, I can’t wait to get back and be with all my friends in my favorite place. Only 52 more days!