You don’t realise how much you miss your friends from high school until your first summer home from college. Most of my friends - actually, all of my friends - went away for college. I, on the other hand, stayed in the same city I’ve lived in for the past nineteen years of my life. This was due to financial and other reasons but that’s another story. Being stuck home, I could not wait for everyone to come back. Here are a few things that they don’t tell you about coming home after your first year of college.

How Different It Is To Be Back Home

The first week home was different, to say the least. Many of my friends were travelling home or still at school taking exams so I had about a week of time to kill by myself. It was great. Sleeping in my own bed, not worrying about someone walking in my room, eating whenever I wanted (even at 2 am), not having to wake up at 5 am for practice - I didn’t realise how much I missed all of the little things. I watched Netflix - a lot. I mostly did a lot of nothing, which is exactly what I needed after a long year. Eventually, I ran out of shows to watch and things to do by myself. Luckily, everyone started coming home.

How Much You'll Have To Talk About

Friends coming home from college is a liberating experience. You’re itching to hear about their year and learn about everything they did and who they met and how different their experience was from yours. But you also can’t wait to tell them everything that happened to you and what you've learned in college. My friends and I talked for hours - I thought my mouth was going to fall off.

There was also the fact that we could all just hang out and not have to worry about anything. I spent a whole day with my friends eating pizza and wings and watching “Cars”, “Shrek” and other movies. Another time my friends and I went to one of their condo’s and played monopoly and went out on her boat and listened to music. There’s also all the summer concerts and parties where you get to see those who you haven’t seen since high school as well. Summer after college is a time of catching up on everything that happened in the past 8 months.

Your Parents Now Care What You're Up To And Where You Go

You know what I’m talking about. The past 8 months you’ve been out until who knows what time without a care in the world able to return “home” to your dorm whenever you wanted. Except now you’re home and things suddenly aren’t the same. You parents may ask where you’re going, with who and when you’ll be home or even what time you MUST be home. It’s a change that may or may not be a good one depending on your parents.

How You Now Need Money

So now you’re out of school and need money and therefore you need a job. Depending on where you live finding a job is not easy. If possible, apply to places before you come home to ensure you’ll have a spot for the summer because summer jobs fill up FAST. There are many other students home for the summer and your best bet is grocery, restaurants or retail if possible.

How Much You'll Miss Your Roomates

When you’re home from college, you’re most likely back to having a room by yourself. Of course, you missed it - everyone does. Except as time goes on you miss having your roommate(s) to talk to and eat with every day. Everyone you’ve been hanging out with has been within a 15-20min radius the entire 8 months. Now you have to plan times to hang out with your friends who may not live near you. By the end of the summer, you CAN’T wait to see your roommates and friends from school again. and A summer without roommates is one of the biggest changes a college student coming home has to face.