I’ve only been home for about a month and a half and it’s been strange. Adjusting has proved to be quite the task.

Everyone anticipates a fun and carefree summer with their old friends from high school, but what many people seem to forget is that college costs A LOT. And no, I’m not talking about tuition. I’m talking about all the midnight Taco Bell trips that your friends talk you into. So, this means that from here on out, every one of your summers is going to be spent working. I have learned this first hand; this is the first summer that I have spent working full time. Let me tell you, it sucks.

The anticipation of summer through the stress of finals week was engulfing me, but now that I’m here I’ve realized I’m not living this stress-free summer that I dreamed of. I’m working 40 hours most weeks and taking a summer class to save a little money in the future. This adds up to about 46 hours every week and that leaves me with hardly any time to see my friends, or really do anything…

That leads me to another lesson I’ve learned- I really miss my friends from school. They all live roughly two hours away and they’re just as busy working to make as much money as possible in these three months. We saw each other every day for nine months and I haven’t seen them since we moved out in May. My heart aches for my partners in crime and to be back in Ashland with them. It’s easy to overlook life when you live it every day, but being away from them has just made me appreciate them even more. In the last nine months, many of my friendships from high school and my hometown have faded. This is sad to me but it is all a part of my personal growth and it reflects where I am today.

The hardest lesson I have encountered since I have returned from school is the dynamic of my family. They got so used to life without me in the house and I got used to my freedom. I still have my freedom at home and my parents have been very understanding of this change but that doesn’t mean that it hasn’t been difficult. We all had to work on getting along and living under one roof again.

If you’re a freshman reading this, I’m sure your first college summer seems like it will never come. But, trust me, it will, faster than you’d like. Reflecting on my freshman year has been one of my favorite things to do this summer but it’s still hard to believe that it went by so fast. It feels like just yesterday I was buying my fridge, bed set, and everything else I needed for my dorm. Soak up your last summer of true freedom and life as you know it in your hometown. It’s all going to change so fast, but this is good change.

Taking this summer to look back on my freshman year has been crazy, to say the least. It was full of ups and downs but each of them proved to be a valuable lesson that I truly appreciate. Although working and still going to school was never the summer I anticipated, I’m proud of myself for taking so much on and balancing it all. Being responsible sucks but it will be worth it in the end, and sometimes the comfort of home brings less stress to some of life’s most stressful tasks.

I am so proud of myself and how far I’ve come in one short year. I have learned to value things more, including myself. I am thankful to have had this time away from Ashland to reflect and really focus on the differences in my own life, I hope you can too.