If I had a dollar for every time someone gave me a funny look and said, "you really call your parents everyday?" I would have enough money to pay off my student loans and then some.

Every night when I say, "I'm about to go call my parents, I'll see you guys in about an hour," to my roommates, they know I'll be in my room with the door shut for at least an hour. My roommates probably think I'm crazy for calling my parents every single night and talking to them for an hour. Most people don't understand what I could possibly have to talk to them about for seven hours a week.

Most of the time, we really aren't talking about anything at all. Most of the time, it's just me enjoying hanging out with my family, even if I can't be with them. I like to think of myself as being a very family oriented person, and it's hard for me to be at school six hours away from them.

I'm sure that when I tell people I talk to my parents every night that I can on the phone, they think I'm needy, and that I rely on my parents to make all of my decisions for me and what not, or that I can't handle living on my own. This assumption couldn't be further from the truth. There are times that I do rely on my parents to help me out of a sticky situation, but that doesn't happen often.

They just want to know what's up with me, how I'm doing, how school is going, how basketball is going, how my friends are, the list is endless. In turn, I want to know the same about them. If I were home, I would hear most of the same stories that I hear on the phone, it's just through a different medium. They put me on speakerphone and I get to be in on the conversation with them so it's like I'm there, just not physically in the room.

I still have time to have fun, hang out with my friends, play basketball, and get my homework done, but calling my parents is one of my favorite parts of my day. I can always rely on them to make me laugh with a story or a joke. It isn't like the hour I spend on the phone is of any inconvenience to me, such as some perceive it to be.

An hour may be a little drastic, and maybe every day is too much for some people too, depending on how close they are with their families. The point is, though, that calling your parents is never a bad idea and never a waste of time. They love you, and they raised you to be the person that you are. Without their guidance, it's possible you wouldn't even be in college in the first place. Plus, they have most likely made sacrifices, whether they be financial or time related, to help you get to where you are.

I'm not ashamed of the fact that I love talking to my parents every night. It's never a bad thing to call home, even if it's simply to say, "I miss you and I love you."