Your parents do more for you than you'll ever realize. It's taken me 19 years to figure it out, but I now understand how much my mom and my dad have sacrificed to make me happy. Here is why your parents absolutely rock your world right now as a college student:

For paying your college tuition.

This may not apply to everyone, and I completely understand that. But for those of us that are beyond fortunate enough to have our parents pay for our tuition, you should never miss an opportunity to thank them for it. It can be easy to forget just how much it costs for you to be in college, but it's most likely taken your parents your entire lifetime and then some to save up for it. Be grateful that your parents are willing to give you this extraordinary gift of an education, something that is so highly valued these days.

For allowing their baby to leave the nest and truly live independently.

I am not a parent myself, so I cannot fully explain this one accurately. However, I know that when my family dropped me off my freshman year, my mom and older sister bawled their eyes out. My dad was clearly upset, but obviously kept it together for the rest of us. Letting go of anything is never easy, this much I do know. I can only imagine how hard it must have been from going to a full house to an empty nest.

For attempting to prepare you for college life, even though you didn't listen.

Remember all those times your mom or dad, or both (even worse), would randomly tell you things about their college experience? Well, for me, these dreaded conversations always began with the same old phrase: "When I was in college..." Being occupied with many other things, I usually blocked out these seemingly useless pieces of advice. Thinking back, I wish I had really taken advantage of their words of wisdom, because I constantly find myself asking my parents simple little questions about things they probably already told me about. Whether you want to believe it or not, parents actually do know what they're talking about.

For the countless check-in texts and phone calls, even when the last thing you want to do is respond.

I know that some parents will give their kid space when he or she goes away to school. Some people just have different kinds of relationships with their parents and will want to talk to their parents every day. Regardless of your situation, there will be times when your mom or dad, or sometimes both (in those super awesome family group messages), will shoot you with what seems like a million texts at once, asking you anything and everything they can. They also call you at the most inconvenient times, like when you are currently skipping your 8 a.m. class or trying to pregame on a Friday night. As annoying as it can be, they really just miss you (and you know that deep down, you miss them more than you would ever admit), and want to make sure that you're happy and actually going to class.

For coming to visit you and buying you real food.

Dining hall food could never, ever in a billion years compare to your mom's home cooking, or your favorite Chinese takeout from home. So, when your parents make the trip to come visit you, just be thankful that they're willing to spare you a meal of mushy pasta and wilted lettuce for actual food that you didn't even have to pay for. It's the little things like that that make us college students so happy, we have to put it on our Snapchat story.

For telling you it's going to be okay, even when you think the world is ending.

We all have those "This is literally the end of the world" moments, even when we know it's really not. If you're someone who calls your mom or dad in a severe moment of weakness, you owe everything to them for calming you down and letting you know that it's going to be okay.They want you to remember that, as Ed Sheeran once said, "Everything will be okay in the end. If it's not okay, then it's not the end."

For always supporting you, even when you make stupid decisions.

In general, college is all about screwing up, learning from it, and trying not to do it again. Your parents are always going to love you no matter what, even when you do and say stupid shit when you're drunk, or decide to wait until the last minute to write a ten-page paper, then complain to them about it non-stop.

For pushing you to keep going, and believing in you even when you feel like you have failed everyone, including yourself.

We have all felt like a failure at some point in our college careers thus far. I know that when I get a bad grade or didn't try as hard as hard as I should have, I feel terrible. We all say things we don't mean and do things we know we shouldn't. It can be especially difficult to please everyone in your life in college. Sometimes, we just want to give up and throw the laptop at the wall, but we can't. Luckily, our parents are there to remind us to never give up. If they could get through their four years, so can we. They know we have it in us, even when we feel like we can't type another word or make another study guide without absolutely losing it. Your parents believe in you when you don't believe in yourself, and that is something to thank them everyday for.

Here's a big "thank you" to my parents for all that they do for me, and to all the other parents who somehow manage to do it all and help us college students get through those "best" four years of our lives.