If you hated high school, then you'll love college. This was a common thing I heard as I prepared to graduate and move on to the next stage of my life. Although this statement was proven to be true, my time in college has not come without it’s own issues and problems, especially during the summertime.

College summers are much different from high school summers, and as this is the first summer I'll be spending on my own, I thought it best to put these differences into words, as either life stage has both pros and cons.

1. Location, Location, Location

In high school, all your friends are in the same town. Every weekend you make plans to hang at all your favorite local places and spend nights just being together and enjoying life.

In college, all your friends live in different towns. When summer rolls around, you might be the only one left in your college town of choice, which sucks, but it doesn’t come without it’s benefits.

If all your friends are in different towns, then summer road trips to visit are a necessity and it’s always cool to see a city through the eyes of someone you love. However, summer road trips can be expensive and hard to plan for.

2. Cash Rules Everything Around Me

High school summers were mostly spent either messing around or working pointless fun jobs, like life guarding or waitressing. Your co-workers were frequently your friends, who you’d get to hang out with after work until curfew.

However, in college, a job or internship is a necessity. And unless you’re lucky, sometimes they’re mind-numbingly boring ones that you only took to put on your resume. But living alone in college there is no curfew, which is such sweet freedom.

3. With Great Freedom, Comes Great Responsibility

Freedom is great until you stay out too late one night and show up to work exhausted or feeling awful.

Making a ton of your own money is awesome, and it’s fun to spend it on all the things you want until you realize the money you spent on that coconut bra and horse mask for next Halloween would have probably been more efficient towards your car insurance or rent, which your parents normally took care of.

4. My Parents Were Cool?

Yes, you read that correctly.

Sooner or later you’re going to start missing home cooked meals, family game nights and living somewhere that you didn’t have to pay for. And you’ll go visit your parents, maybe for a week or so, not for long.

But just long enough for you to remember why you couldn’t wait to go to college in the first place.

And the awesome part about that is, since you’re independent now, you can leave whenever you want, which is an option you never had before.

5. Adulthood Is Hard, But Worth It

Independence is something that’s hard to get used to, and if you’re not careful, then it can feel a lot like loneliness. However, there’s something to be said for being in charge of your own destiny, what you do, and when you do it.

This is the time to take charge of your own life. You have nothing to be tied down to, no family, husband, children or contracts. Take advantage of this time, and turn it into an adventure.

Yes, you’ll make some mistakes and miss the days when autonomy was just a dream of the future, but you’ll learn from them and be better as a result.

And once you do learn, you’ll never want it any other way.