We all miss our family when we go away to college. The home cooked meals, your pets, a bed that’s bigger than a twin, and showers you don’t have to wear shoes in. You can finally stop arguing as to why your home state is better and switch to why your school and city is better. There’s more to do and you don’t run the risk of seeing everyone you know (small-town problems). Your parents know the exact lecture you give every family member about how you study hard and are planning interviews and internships. We all know what really happens. You stay up until two am watching The Office. At least you can pretend you know management and what happens in an office, right?

When you come home for breaks, what is the first thing you do? Get on SnapChat and find out when your friends get home right? I love to come home just as much as the next person to see the people you spent your entire life with (again, another small-town problem). You can compare what everyone else is doing and deep down think about how you’re doing way better. But then there’s those nights you think nothing is going on until you get on Instagram. All your high school friends are together, and it looks awesome. Except one thing, you heard nothing about this and instead you are spending the night watching Christmas Vacation with your parents and going to sleep before 10. Of course, your body will thank you when you wake up early the next morning, but you wanted to go out and have fun. There’s nothing worse than coming home and seeing all your high school friends together but you heard nothing about it.

This is when I start comparing that if I could have just stayed at school with those friends all winter break, I would have so much more fun. There would be places to go and friends who want to spend their entire day off with you. It’s crazy you spend your entire life with people who will not text you once you leave, then spend two months with strangers who text you saying they miss you when you don’t come out of your room for two hours. I would rather stay at school because when I finish a season of The Office and need a tangible human to talk to, they are right down the hall. You have developed a routine for your weekends, starting with Chipotle on Fridays for dinner followed by a nap. I have created this bond with my college friends that my high school friends could never tap into. Which is ironic because they have known you since preschool. Obviously when thinking about the semester, it is important to have breaks, because who could survive studying literally all year-round?? In the end, I would rather stay at school until I graduate, friends are always right around the corner…Literally.