Wait, Thanksgiving already happened? You took a plane, a train, sat in bumper-to-bumper traffic, and finally made it home in one piece. You discussed your classes with your great aunt at the dinner table (yes, Aunt Lucy, it's OK to be getting a C in Intro Chemistry) and hung out with your best friends from high school. It was great -- really! But as you leave your hometown behind and get back onto the plane, train, or car in bumper-to-bumper traffic, you are left thinking about the past few days. Here are 10 very important things you realized after going home that you would never have known just two weeks ago.
1. There is a reason you didn't bring to college those clothes in your closet.
The "I have so much clothing at home" excuse for lame packing is a lie. You really don't want to wear your old '80s-style Christmas sweater. You never did and that's why you didn't bring it to school.
2. Water pressure in a shower makes a huge difference.
Thought your dorm showers were "good enough?" They're not. Hot water and water pressure greater than the occasional drip is divine. (Also, you can sing in the shower and no one will walk in! You go Glen-Coco!)
3. The "Freshman 15" is not really gained at school, but at home.
The accessibility of a fridge just a few steps downstairs that doesn't require meal swipes is a very, very dangerous thing. Also, your parents suddenly feel an urge to make sure you don't starve so they actually buy you all your favorite food! Macaroons all day baby!
4. There are maybe five people you actually care about.
All those friends you thought you'd keep in touch with? You ended up wanting to spend time with only a handful of them, but that's really all you need.
5. The freshmen at your old high school look like kindergartners.
You were never actually that small. The incoming generation must be shrinking or not eating enough calcium.
6. Having a beer with friends is completely normal.
For some reason, it is now entirely acceptable to sit and chill with beers. I'm not sure when this became a thing but please no one change it.
7. You missed your bed. A lot.
There is nothing like a real, normal-sized bed. You've never slept better.
8. YOU DIDN'T FORGET HOW TO DRIVE!
Sure it's convenient to walk to classes and have everything be within a two-mile radius or call for an Uber, but there is nothing like flying down the highway blasting your favorite songs. Absolutely nothing.
9. Having a washer and a dryer in your basement is incredible.
Not having to do laundry in a giant laundry room a five-minute walk away in the rain and wait the 30 minutes to switch loads to the dryer, is more than pretty nice.
10. You miss college.
It's been a week or less than a week and you already miss the smell of mildew by your floor's bathroom, late-night chicken wings as an excuse for a study break, your friends waking you up five minutes before your midterm with a good luck text, and even your roommate's snoring. It's time to go back home.
