Summer break seemed so far away back in the bitter cold months of January, but here it is. It’s what we’ve been counting down the days for since spring break, but now you’re home and suddenly confused as to why you wanted it all to be over so quickly to begin with. I’m here writing to you to acknowledge that sure there are some downsides to being home from school, but I’m also here to tell you there’s plenty to be excited about between May and August. Here are some pros and cons of a college summer break:

Pro: You can read again

And by reading I mean good old fashioned, or new-fashioned if you use a Kindle or some other e-reader, reading for pleasure. During the school year, the most textual interaction you get is with a stack of textbooks. Most college students are too stressed out, tired, busy, or all for the above to make time for reading things they’re actually interested in. Summer break gives you the perfect opportunity to hit the local library or the bookstore and go nuts. Without professors and deadlines breathing down your back, you can easily finish a book a week.

Con: You’re not learning anymore

While you’re away at school, you may not realize it, but your brain is constantly firing on all cylinders. You’re writing papers, taking notes, studying for exams, and more. Though you generally make time for other important things such as sleeping and eating, your school work is your number one priority and the number one consumer of your time. And while it may sound like more of a pro that all of this has ended, your brain, so accustomed to receiving new information and expanding your knowledge, now comes to a screeching halt. Unless you’re taking summer classes, it could be a long and unfortunately boring summer without the rigorous exercise your brain is used to.

Pro: Seeing all of your friends from home

Yeah, those people that you swore you’d always be friends with in high school? They’re still there. They may have jobs or internships just like you but they still exist and there’s no better time to reconnect with them than summer break. It’s not often you get to see the people who helped you survive the horrors of middle and high school and friendships like that are hard to forget. If anything, after being away for so long, you’ll have plenty to talk about and nothing gives you that warm and fuzzy feeling quite like reuniting with people you’re close with after an extended period of slighted communication.

Con: Missing all of your college friends

The people you’ve been surrounded by for approximately the past 8 months are suddenly gone. All the inside jokes created, the routines that were formed, and so on have vanished into thin air, with no signs of returning until late August or early September. And it’s not like summertime in high school where all of your pals are within driving distance. With the exception of community colleges, at least one of the friends you’ve made at school is states away and therefore probably too far to visit over break.

Pro: Being with your family

For four short months, you actually don’t have to eat gross dining hall food or pay with quarters to do your laundry. What a unique and refreshing concept! And hell, if you’ve really got it made, you don’t even have to do your laundry. Also, let’s be real, as close as you may be with your roommates or as much as you will say your best friend knows you, no one will ever truly get you the way your family does. They’re the ones you can cry uncontrollably in front of or act like a fool around without any real judgment.

Con: Being with your family

As much as you love them, you can’t deny that after having spent a majority of the past year away at school with so much independence, it’s not exactly easy re-adjusting to living under someone else’s roof. Siblings that weren’t around to get on your nerves magically reappear, as do curfews, chores, and other things you had grown accustomed to not having. By the end of the summer, there’s a very good chance they’ll be driving you up a wall and vice versa as well. After getting so used to how things were with you at college, it’s weird to readjust on all ends.

It’s not easy getting reacquainted with being home for the summer, away from campus life and university classes, that’s for sure. But as much as apparent as the cons may seem, be sure to appreciate the pros that come with being a college student home on summer break. It won’t be long before you don’t even know what a summer break is. #Realworld