Finally getting to go home for a break is necessary after being away for a few months at school. You want to forget the stress of waking up early, tests, and living with people you might not know well. Home is where you can sleep till noon, play with your dog and most importantly, have your mom do your laundry. Most people start off their vacation strong with goals and plans but as the break comes to an end, they realize they've gone through the same phases of every other break they have had.
1. I AM SO HAPPY TO BE HOME!
The initial excitement you feel when you finally pull into your drive way after a long drive. You see your dogs playing in the yard and your mom has your favorite meal cooking. You can smell the brownies as you walk through the doors. You get to sleep on a normal size bed with your cat snuggled at your feet. You have not been this comfortable in months and you start to consider transferring to a school closer to your hometown.
2. I am going to be proactive during this break and do my school work.
You tell yourself that you are going to do all your homework and study for the test you have the week school starts back. You also tell yourself that you're going to get ahead on your research paper. Yeah, right. Those textbooks are not leaving your bag until the night before you leave.
3. Bored Eating.
You run out of fun things to do. You have visited your grandmothers, aunts, cousins, high school friends so now you're opening the fridge every five minutes and eating the thin mints your mom bought last month. And you ask your mom every five minutes what she is making for dinner. You probably gained a good two pounds from all those Pringles and Pop-Tarts.
4. I miss my college friends.
You start texting your roommate about the latest Hollywood gossip because that's what you are used to doing everyday. You make plans with your sorority sisters for the weekend after you get back, and you even start sending them a massively annoying amount of snapchats of your cat.
5. Has my family always been this annoying?
Every. little. thing. annoys. you. to. death. It amazes you that you lived with this for eighteen years. You just want to lock yourself in your room so you can watch Netflix on your Ipad but your sister unscrews your doorknob to get to you. You have not actually gotten to sleep late at all because they keep waking you up for breakfast. Don't they know breakfast is supposed to be eaten at 11:30?
6. I am so ready to go back to school.
You pack your bags but then realize your dorms won't open until Sunday. You seriously need to get back to your life. You finally remember why you went away to school in the first place. You love your family but you also love your independence. You can only be trapped in a house with them for so long before you lose your mind.
7. Start planning the rest of the semester.
You pull out your planner and mark all the important tests and projects. You tell yourself that you are going to study so much when you get back to school and ace every test. You find the weekends that you are free and brainstorm what you should do. "Well I don't have a test until Thursday that week so I should convince my friends to spend the day at the beach and then have a spa night" In the end, you end up watching Netflix that night with your roommate while scarfing down five dollar Chinese food from the mall.
8. I don't really want to go back.
Even with all the bickering with your family and being forced to do yard work, you realize you do not want to leave them. Being home is so comfortable. You have nott stressed the entire break and you do not want to take that bio test on Wednesday. But if I have to go, I'm taking the cat with me.
9. You realize you spent you whole break watching Netflix.
You have completely finished re-watching Gossip Girl and you tackled Fuller House on night one. Your plans to get everything done before you go back totally failed. But it was fun while it lasted. I guess you might as well turn the coffee pot on as soon as you walk in your dorm. Hopefully all the naps will pay off because you will not be sleeping at all next week. But don't ruin your last night. Just watch Property Brothers with your sister and enjoy yourself. Your research paper will wait.
10. The Drive Back.
Pulling out of you drive way is tough. You just hugged your mom and saw your dad tear up a little. You play sad music and get all your crying out in the first thirty minutes and then make yourself stop because you can barely see. You try to listen to fun throw back music to make lift your spirits because it reminds you of your childhood. As you get closer to campus, it gets easier because you remember the amazing things that have happened to you in the past year.
11. When you see your people.
These few people are the ones who were there for you as you adjusted to a completely new environment. They have seen you drag yourself to class after studying all night and cry when you made a bad grade. They are the ones who take you downtown when they know you need it but they also know when you need a night in re-watching old Grey's episodes. You have been through so much together even though you haven't known each other long. When you see them after being separated, you run to hug them. You all go to dinner because you have to tell them everything that has happened in the past week. You never stop missing your family but being around your friends helps you forget for a few minutes. Obviously getting a degree is the point behind attending college and along the way you discover who you are and what you want your life to look like. But what you will remember in forty years are the late night talks, crazy adventures and singings sessions with the ones that made college bearable.
Breaks are necessary and a great time to de-stress from the difficult realities of college. I wish college were like the movies and I could party every night, skip class and somehow not get kicked out of school. That is just not true. College is the most challenging thing a young person will go through because even though they try, high school does not prepare you for it. So Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Winter, and Spring Break are all there to help relieve some of the stress an 18-22 year old is experiencing. But it will also remind them of why they went to school in the first place and give them the push to make it through the next few months. All you can do is try to enjoy every minute because nothing will every be the same as right now.
