Don’t get me wrong, I love being home. I love that my mom will do my laundry. I love seeing my high school homies. I love visiting my favorite, local bagel shop. I love that the kitchen is stocked with more than egg whites and granola bars and, I especially love the fact that I have little to no work to do. While I’m sure we all love banging out an entire Netflix series or the smell of homemade food, there comes a point when our bodies tell us, “You have been home long enough.” I believe I have reached that point, and these are just a few of the reasons I miss about being away at school.
- The roomies.
By the end of the semester, living with 3 other people probably seemed like a nightmare, and you couldn’t wait to be back in your bed at home. Even though you were fighting over who had to take the trash out or who left the sink a mess, you love them deep down. It’s like having a sleepover with your best friends every night! They’re there to get dinner with you, to pre-game on the weekends, to complain about working out, and to watch romantic comedies while drinking enough wine to make you all cry. Suddenly, your bedroom at home seems lonely, and you miss those crazies that you live with.
2. Freedom.
Yes, this sounds cliche. It also sounds like I am a rebellious teen, but no matter how old you get, as long as you are living under your parent’s roof, you won’t have the freedom that you do at college. At school, you have no one that you need to be telling where you are all the time; no one to answer to. At home, this is the opposite. Your parents need constant updates of where you are, which is understandable because you are their child after all. It’s just not something you’re used to anymore, and you miss that independence.
3.Late-night hang sessions.
One of the beautiful things about being at school is that you are surrounded by your own age group, a.k.a. a bunch of crazy kids who just want to pass their classes and have a good time. You’re all basically on the same page, so that means if you’re craving Wawa at four in the morning, you can find someone that is down to go with you. Need to pull an all-nighter while cracked out on Starbucks in the lib? Someone will be down. If your home life is anything like mine, you may have friends with internships, you have parents that need to be up for work, and siblings that need to be up for school, so they’re usually in bed by ten. And there you are, left to be wide awake until four in the morning craving sandwiches and your college friends.
4. Always being busy.
I understand that I mentioned the fact that I love not having any work to do, but being home for break soon becomes way too much free time. Don’t you miss constantly having a purpose? Yes, there are a lot of due dates, and yes, you often want to rip your hair out, but you were never bored. You were constantly on your feet and getting things done, which made the weekends that much more sweet. Being home has made you realize that you can only sit in your bed for so long. Watching paint dry seems appealing at this point...you need things to do.
5. Everything is walking distance.
This applies to most schools, right? I think? I miss being able to hit up my favorite brunch spot, the grocery store, and the majority of the bars by taking a three to five-minute walk. It kept off the freshmen (and sophomore, and junior...) fifteen, it was cheap, and it was fun! If I want to go out at home I’ll either need a train ride or a DD. Also, paying for gas is lame, so there’s that.
6. Your frat/sorority/club/team/organization/whatever it is that you do.
Your college gang! Your crew! The people that share your interests, your values, and your goals. You miss grabbing dinner, studying together, and even the weekly meetings. The groups chats over break work for while but they’re just not cutting it now. You’re basically soulmates with these nut jobs and you miss having them around.
7. Parties, Bars, and Clubs, oh my!
If the nightlife in your hometown is anything like mine, there are maybe a few bars that are frequented by a middle-aged crowd. It’s the opposite of your typical college weekend, and while a few nights out with your childhood friends can be fun, you miss the scene at school. The smelly frat parties, the crowded happy hours, the sweaty clubs; you live for those weekends.
I’m sure you enjoy being home just as much as I do, and nothing will ever replace the quality time with your family or how it feels to crawl into your own bed. Yet, after a while, we are home long enough to remember why we left these towns in the first place.
