By now we’re a little less than halfway until we have the privilege to head back to Baldwin City. So far, you have received a few homemade meals from mom and dad, caught up on your sleep and made enough money to be a little less of a broke college student.

I’ve slowly learned that college is a little different than high school. Now, you dread the summers and wish the school year would slow down. Your hometown isn’t your hometown anymore, and a big piece of your heart belongs to the town your college resides because that’s where your family away from family is. As much as freshman year is a little shaky and has its hardships, when you go home each summer, you’ll miss ole BU.

1. You’ll miss saying hello to random people, and you’ll miss the smiles someone gives you on your way to class because no one is as friendly as the students in Baldwin City.

2. You’ll miss recognizing everyone you see.

3. You’ll miss hanging up a hammock and relaxing your way through the day.

4. You’ll miss being able to run down the hall or across campus to tell your friends the details about last night that only they would want to hear.

5. You’ll miss heading down to El Patron after a long day to enjoy some chips and queso, while getting your fix on cheap margaritas.

6. If you’re anything like me, you live in a big city so you’ll miss the one stoplight in town because rush hour traffic sucks.

7. You'll miss seeing President Lynne Murray walking around campus with her perfect dogs.

8. Despite the subpar food, you’ll miss seeing everyone you know and love in the caf and having family dinners with your closest friends.

9. You’ll miss befriending all the estranged cats throughout the town and dragging them into your room to be your pets.

10. You’ll miss being independent.

11. You’ll even miss driving 20 minutes to get your favorite Pizza Shuttle pizza because nothing beats that $5 deal.

12. You’ll miss mixers, date parties and frat houses.

13. You’ll miss cheering on every team on campus, especially football.

14. You’ll miss The Diner’s crappy service because that’s your only cure on a Sunday morning.

15. You won’t admit it, but you’ll miss going to class because your professors are complete rock stars.

16. You’ll miss Jitters, Moose’s BBQ and especially the Kwik, because that’s your only source of food after 10 p.m.

17. You’ll secretly miss chapter.

18. You’ll miss counting all the squirrels on your way to class.

19. You’ll miss heading to Sylas & Maddy’s on Tuesday night to get BOGO ice cream.

20. You won’t have Mass Street 15 minutes away to be indecisive about what to eat with your friends.

21. You have three months where you don’t get to walk through a field of beautiful maple leaf trees on your way to class.

22. You’ll miss your friends, chapter, teammates and most of all you’ll miss Baker because for four years and for life, it’s home.