This is my second time doing this whole "coming back home after college" thing, and I feel a lot older doing it this second round, and it doesn't make it any easier. I love my family, and they know that. They know how much I love to spend time with them, but I'm talking more about the adjustment all college kids face when they come home for the summer.
You see, when you go to college, you're forced to grow up and do things on your own. Even if you didn't originally know how to do things, you'll learn, and sometimes you learn differently. Coming back home means following new rules, even though for a year now, you've done something successfully your way. And to be honest, it's hard at first to adjust.
Parents don't really know what it's like to be in college in our generation. When we come home, they don't realize that each campus has its own styles and that you're used to dressing how you want to according to those trends- and this summer won't change (Sorry mom, I just really love my big t-shirts). They don't realize that you're not used to checking in because you've been used to only being responsible for yourself. If you want to leave your dorm late at night to grab some food, nobody is stopping you. If you get invited to hang out with friends on a spur of the moment, you don't need to tell anyone before you go. Coming home and realizing you have to check in can be hard to adjust after a year. It's still hard for me to not leave to go somewhere and not tell my parents where I'm going..it's not an attempt to rebel, it's the simple fact that the adjustment is a lot more difficult than parents make it out to be.
Coming back home from college also means a new daily schedule. After a couple weeks, you've mastered the schedule that works for you: when you want to eat, study, sleep, etc in college. I can stay up late with ease now, but with that habit comes wanting to sleep in (Once again, I'm sorry Mom). You've been forced to understand that the real world is coming, and you've probably matured a lot more than your parents may realize. Yes, Mom, I will get my job lined up. I will try to do what I can to replace the money I spent on food and fun things this past year. Once again, I'm sorry. I promise though, we are mature enough to know what we have to do. We will find that job and we will get it done.
We don't want our parents to think we don't care, or we don't cherish the things that they do for us. We are thankful to have a home to come back to, the ability to sleep in our own bed, the cooking, the cleaning, and most importantly the family time. Just please know, that it does take time. We want to learn your ways, but we just need to readapt again. Please don't hate us too much while that's happening.
