I get to write this week from the comfort of my forever home, my own bed with my cat in it, and childhood friends all back in the same state. I get to sleep in, maybe start that DIY project I’ve been talking about, and not think about homework (for at least a couple hours). While all of these are amazing reasons to come home each break, the biggest blessing each college break has to offer is being able to spend time with my family.

College kids have very distinct priorities when they come home for their first break. They normally want to see their friends and share stories about how awesome college is and how different it is from high school. “I’ve grown SO much in the past couple months,” is a sentence that has come out of every college freshman’s mouth (including mine a few years ago). It’s natural to want to talk about this seemingly life changing transition with people going through it at the same time, but we have to remember the people who have been their whole lives, and who we should really be wanting to spend time with over fall break. Our family.

Wanting to see your best friend of 10+ years is a different story, they are someone who is probably considered an adopted part of your family anyways. Anyone labeled “family” are the type of people you should be spending fall break with, but maybe not friends you got close with junior and senior year of high school before everyone went in their separate directions. Those are the people you can spend one night with but we still have to remember where we came from. Your mom and dad, and possibly siblings, have actually watched you grow up your entire lives and we have to realize how different their life is as well now that we are at college. We have a new environment, a whole new life because we moved to a new city and made new friends. We don’t realize that their lives have changed even more than ours without moving a single piece of furniture, and you being back gives them a little normalcy, even if it's just for one weekend.

Your parents might pay for your education, they might not. They might help you pay for groceries at school, they might not. But they paid for you to eat every meal your first 18 years, and they drove you to every practice or lesson you wanted to do your first 16 years. They did your laundry for your first 13 years and changed your diapers for your first 3 years. They’ve had to adjust to not having you around and learned what that meant for them, as much as you had to learn how to adjust to college and be on your own.

My family is the true reason I am where I am today and if only having 4 days home means my grandma and aunt are coming down to Virginia for a day, and I’m driving up to Maryland to see more family the next, so be it. If that means my last night at home is spent shopping watching a redbox movie with my mom, I personally wouldn’t want it any other way. My family deserves the world, but if I all have to give is time, they can gladly have all of it.