Whatever feelings you have about the summer heat, nothing quite beats the thrill you get from finishing your last exam and finally being done with the semester. What you don’t expect, however, is the culture shock that comes with moving out of your dorm or apartment to go back home for the summer. Even when you don’t think much will change, the differences always end up flooring you. So, here are 13 signs that you’re no longer a free bird in college anymore.
1. You have to tell your parents where you’re going every time you step out of the house.
Living on your own gives you the freedom that you’d never thought you’d get to have. Once you’re back home, say goodbye to the ability to make last-minute plans and simply walk out the door—there’s no chance your parents would ever let you get away with that.
2. You suddenly become a picky eater.
3. You have to make formal plans with friends.
The best part about living in a dorm or an apartment is that whenever you’re bored, you can simply walk down the hall or into your roommate’s room and plan an excursion. At home, you are afforded no such luxuries.
4. You suddenly have an influx of free time.
You’re so used to thinking you have homework to do or a paper to be writing that the fact you don’t have to go back to school for another 3 months is music to your ears (and your social life).
5. Your parents expect you to help out around the house.
It doesn’t matter if you’re the messiest person you know back in the dorms—your parents still expect you to clean, wash, and generally do some of the grunt work. Hey, they never said you could come back home without paying a price.
6. You run into people from your high school every single day.
College offers the biggest blessing of anonymity, but once you’re back home for the summer, you should expect to run into at least five different people from your high school every time you go to the mall.7. You get excited to go grocery shopping.
Remember how I said you have a lot of free time at home? Sometimes that can be a bad thing. But it also means that even the most insignificant parts of your day can be tiny pleasures. When the money is coming out of your mom’s pocket instead of your own, you can get excited about splurging a little on some name brand cereal. Also, it’s the first time you've left the house in three days.
8. You spend as much time as possible preparing for next semester.
Whether it’s saving up money for future adventures or catching up on lost hours of sleep, summer is the ultimate time of rest to ready yourself for another hectic fall semester.9. You finish three different Netflix shows in a week.
10. Three words: home-cooked meals.
Step aside, frozen pizza. The good food is here.
11. You have to reacquaint yourself with your own home.
Which cabinet holds all of the cups, again? I don’t remember the doorbell being that loud. It only takes a school year away from home to forget quite a bit about the house you grew up in.
12. You finally get back into your old routine…
13. Only to pack everything up and move out again.
