It is a very strange feeling coming back from college for the summer. You are leaving a completely separate world apart from your family and the friends you've grown up with. Although it isn't the first occasion of your homecoming, this one is different. This time you won't be returning in just a few weeks, which means that you must once again adapt to living at home.
Upon your arrival at the homestead, you are soon reminded of the high school seniors you left behind, and that they are soon to graduate. Along with this, you may receive an invitation to a party or two. Now you may think, "This will be great to catch up, I have so much to tell them!" One thing you don't realize is that you will not be able to tell them about your experiences and get the expected reaction. The reason being is that they are in a completely different mindset and everything you have to say will be 100 percent foreign. It might be hard to think back to a year ago and remember all of the thoughts that ran through your head at that point. All you were thinking about was enjoying all the last opportunities of senior year, and how you were going to spend your last summer before you were handed the most daunting weight of your life... College. You can say anything you would like about how much fun you have had over the last year or about all of the crazy people you have met, but it will not change a thing. It is like talking to yourself from a year ago. There is so much distance between you and your past self, that anything you have to share is no longer relatable. It is not that you don't want to be there to congratulate your friends, but is simply a matter of being at a loss for words.
The best way to maneuver through this situation is to smile and just focus on those thoughts from your senior year as that is all you will be able to talk about.
After a few minutes of small talk, you will be set free to scavenge the food table for that wonderful pulled pork sandwich and then head over to the corner to talk to the other college kids who are also put in the same awkward chair. From here, you will probably all decide to depart at the same time, making your way back to the host to say one last congrats and finish by getting out of there as quickly as possible.
