In this crazy college world, it can feel very hard to step away from it all.

The first time I went home as a freshman was fall break and I had been at school for 8 weeks. I had secretly been a little homesick and cried a couple of times in my dorm bed while my roommate slept a few feet away. I read all of these articles online about how you shouldn’t go home until Thanksgiving and that you should let yourself create a community at school.

The welcome team at IU made college seem like heaven on earth and that you were crazy if you wanted to leave. Okay, so the IU welcome team did a great job and effectively did their jobs. But someone like me who actually listened, felt like I was cheating on IU or something if I went home, that I shouldn’t feel homesick or want to go home because I was supposed to love it so much.

The truth was, I didn’t love it, and I should have gone home more. My roommate and I were good friends and she was a great first roommate, but we had other things going on. I didn’t feel welcome on my floor and I was really far from the heart of campus. Freshman year has its ups and downs and sitting in your dorm room on the weekends feels like torture when you know you could be going to The Cheesecake Factory with your mom.

Maybe it’s just me but sometimes college does not feel like all that, and I get off campus when I get the chance. So, to all the freshmen, or any year for that matter, it’s OK to go home, and you should. You won’t remember all the weekends you tortured yourself to be there, but you will remember the relief you feel at home.

If being at home helps you de-stress, or you’re more productive at home, go home and forget about keeping your pride. I wouldn’t recommend going home every single weekend but I can guarantee you crying in bed at home feels a lot better than crying in a dorm room where the girls next door are worrying about you.

Campus life and always being present definitely host a slew of advantages, but if you’re not feeling it, grab a bus, get in the car, and just leave because even though the time flies, you have to look out for your mental health and putting yourself first. 10/10 would recommend sitting in your own germ-free bathtub, eating home cooked food, and being able to sleep through the night without Lindsey from Kappa Apple Pie puking peach Taaka outside your room.