I have always been a homebody. I love my bed, my family, my dog, and all my routines that I have at home. So naturally, leaving home to go to school was hard, but once I got to Michigan all of those anxieties and fears went away. I was instantly surrounded by good people, crazy days and nights out, and so much more. I couldn’t have been happier. There were 5 weekends in a row with football tailgates, I got into the sorority of my choice, and the parties just got better. But, fast forward six weeks to now, I was feeling tired, stressed, sick, just overall really run down. I was ready to come home for a weekend, so when fall-break came around, I was really excited to be going home.

From the second I got home there was an outpouring of love. I came home a day earlier than expected to surprise my mom and brother (with the help of my dad, of course). The reaction of my mom was priceless, she was screaming as if something really bad had happened. My dog ran over to me and started licking me and jumping on me. I was so happy to be back in the comfort of my own home, with my own bed, good food, and my family.

Then the fun began. My mom and I did some shopping as a form of “retail therapy” for the stress at school. By stress I mean cramming my work into a small amount of time so I can go out (but actually, there is a lot of work and I was really stressed, but judging from my social media pages all I do is go out). We went out to eat at all my favorite restaurants. Yes, the freshman 15 does exist and it is honestly probably worse when you go home for breaks. We ate everything and anything. All four meals of the day (dessert included) entailed all of my favorite foods, and a little extra. My mom made sure the house was stocked up with all of my favorite snacks. It’s funny that I was so concerned with eating so much because the restaurants in Ann Arbor are actually really good. But, anyway, the fun didn’t stop there. If you know me, you know how much I love to nap. I napped a lot at home. Like really a lot. One day I napped twice. I know there really is no excuse for napping twice in one day, but I had to catch up on lost sleep!

Now for my favorite: SoulCycle. Anyone who knows me knows how much I love SoulCycle, so of course when I went home I had to book some classes. For those not as obsessed as me, you have to book your bikes for the week’s classes on Monday at noon (especially for my instructor because his classes always fill up). So, last Monday as noon approached I sat in Econ 101 waiting to book my bikes when I really should have been paying attention, but it’s fine because I got my bikes! Needless to say, I went and I was WAY more out of shape than I thought. I sat in the class literally in a pool of my own sweat thinking about how I really should work out more at school. But anyway, it was really nice to go back to doing something I love.

But, as they say, time flies as you are having fun and just like that I am sitting here on the plane back to school writing this article. Throughout fall break I was getting emails from my sorority about our plans for the upcoming few weeks and I was literally so excited to get back. So yes, I did miss home a lot, but it is time to get back to Ann Arbor in my 11x12 dorm room. I could not be more excited for more nights out with my friends and to get back into my daily routine at school.