When we leave home for college, we have our own routines, our own way of "adulting" and we get used to living by ourselves (or with roommates). We get used to going to class, eating, studying, sleeping, and repeating. Coming home does throw that off, you may work, do chores, and take care of our duties at home.

Throughout that nine months at school, we gain our independence, but why is it so hard to readjust when we get back home?

When I was at school, I felt homesick for the first three months or so. When I came back from winter break, something felt different. I felt like I didn't belong in my own home like it wasn't mine anymore. I had missed so much, I had to keep asking questions like "how often do you feed the dogs now?" Questions that I always had the answers to. That really bothered me and I didn't know exactly what was making me feel that way so I couldn't make sense of it. I spoke to friends, family, and friends of the family who were attending college for their first year or had to leave home for military training when they were our age. They all had one thing in common:

They all felt displaced when they came home.

I quickly noticed after listening to their responses, it's normal.

Just because you have those feelings, it doesn't mean it isn't your home or that you don't belong. You just spent months living on your own in a different environment with new friends, around different people, and maybe in a different city. for those months you built your life around your classes and time with your new friends. When you come home, you don't have the same friends around and you have more free time.

It's OK to have these feelings, keeping it to yourself won't do you any good.

Talk to your parents, let them know what you're feeling. It always does more harm than good to sit quietly when you feel uncomfortable. They WILL understand. It may not be right away, but if they ever had to spend time away from home when they were young, they'll understand. I can't guarantee they will be able to help you, it takes time to get back to where you were when you left.

But it gets better, it always does.

It just takes time.