In high school, we were all thinking about how we couldn't wait to graduate and get the heck out. Once senior year came to an end and graduation had passed, we all started our new journey's into college or work. Although college may be fun, there are still some little things that every college student may find themselves missing about the easier times. Some of the things you may have taken for granted are what you actually want back the most today, but maybe for others, you never want them back. Here are ten things most college students miss from high school.

1. Friends

Yes, in college you get to see friends, but it’s usually not every day, and even when you do it’s for a brief moment. Sometimes you are in a rush to get to class so it is just a quick “Hi, how are you” then “I gotta get to class!” Who else misses meeting up with your friends for a few minutes in between classes at someones locker? Or even if you have to hurry to get to class, you know you can meet up again (probably at the same locker) at least once before school is over for the day to finish your conversation.

Also, there is never any time to hang out anymore. In high school, you could easily just make last second plans and go to a friends after school was over or on the weekends, but now those times are reserved for studying or work. If you want to get a group of friends together, you should start planning a day months in advance. Sometimes it seems to be almost impossible to get everyone free at the same time.

2. Teachers (Believe it or not.)

Now, I’m not saying that in college you won’t like the professors, but you won’t have quite the bond you had with your high school teachers. In high school, you could just walk into some teacher’s classes and start talking to them. Or you could get their help with getting an extension on a project. Teachers in high school always wanted to help you, and mostly wanted to be your friend, because, well, the simple fact that they had to see you every single day. Also, they actually knew you! They knew your name, they would joke with you, and you could say hi to them if you see them somewhere else in school. In college, there are far too many students for your professor to remember everyone’s names.

Also, since you knew the teachers for so long, you were never afraid to go to them and ask them for help on anything in class. College Professors can be pretty intimidating, and they really make you miss how easy it was to approach high school teachers.

3. Test Retakes/Extra Credit

The thing that sucks about college is that if you miss class on the day of a test, well then you are SOL. Most professors do not allow make up tests. In high school, you skip school just to miss a test only to be sent out into the hall or into another class to take the test the next day. At the time, it seemed like it sucked, but now, we’d give anything to be able to make up tests so easily when we miss them. Another thing that you don’t have much of in college? Extra credit opportunities. If you’re doing bad on quizzes and homework, then that is bad for you because those are the only things keeping your grade where it needs to be. And if you do miss a test? Well good luck there, because you will need it. Sometimes professors may drop the lowest test grades, but if you completely miss one, then do crappy on another, then what are you going to do to get your grade up? Often times, there really isn’t anything you can do except accept your grade and try to move on.

4. Friday Night Football Games

No matter who you are, who could resist those Friday night lights? Whether you were the football player out on the field actually under the lights playing for your hometown, or a member of the band getting to do something you love while supporting your school, or a cheerleader down on the track leading the crowd in some cheers to cheer on your boys, or just a spirit crazy person in the student section yelling chants and screaming for your team to score a touchdown, everyone had something to look forward to during Friday night home games. Friday nights were always the most exciting nights of the week in high school, and not because it meant it was time to party, but time to just have fun with your school and become a little competitive and paint your face.

5. School Dances

Who doesn’t love dances? Homecoming, Snowball, Prom, they were all something to look forward to. You got to go dress shopping with your friends or family, try on a ton of dresses, buy jewelry and shoes to match, and then get all prettied up and take pictures with your best friends. For guys, it was about being able to ask that one girl to dance, or showing off their dance moves. Everyone was ready at my school to make a dance circle and show off their worst dance moves because nobody cared how ridiculous we looked. We didn’t care about how well we danced, just how much fun we all had with each other when we did it. Dances just give you one fun night to spend with your friends and the rest of your school, and everyone just has a good time requesting old songs and teaching others how to dougie.

6. Not having to study.

I don’t know about everyone else, but I rarely had to study for tests in high school and guess what? I didn’t fail! I actually got decent grades without studying weeks in advance for my tests. Now that you’re in college, if you know that there will be a test December 15^th, you best start studying October 1^st if you want a chance at doing really well. The most studying I did in high school was 5 minutes before a test and just reading through some bullet points really quick, and boom, at least a B. Now, nothing that you have in your notes is even on the tests.

7. Knowing everyone in your classes and your grade.

If you missed school, it was whatever, because you knew everyone in all of your classes so you could easily get the notes or answers to the homework that you missed. Have to get in groups for a project or discussion? Oh no problem. You don’t have to look around the room awkwardly until you see someone else also looking around, because you are most likely already sitting next to your friends that you want to work with. Now that you’re in college, you hate hearing the professor say “Get into groups!” because you don’t know anyone! So you just sit and wait until someone invites you to their group. Also, if you were struggling with homework, you could easily just text someone and ask for the answer. Now, you have to suffer through it and probably end up getting it wrong. Also, you knew basically everyone in your grade. The best thing for me going through high school was knowing every single person my age and that I would be graduating with.

8. Lockers

Sometimes, it felt like a pain to have to stop at your locker in between classes to switch around your books, but now, you want nothing more than to be carrying only one class worth of stuff with you wherever you go. Now, you have the books for all of your classes, notebooks, and probably even a laptop in your bag and you have to walk some ways to each class, and the whole time your back is killing you. Lockers just made everything easier for everyone.

9. Sports

There was nothing that felt better than being on a team. Even if you weren’t a great athlete (like me), you still loved the atmosphere and all the friends that you made on the team and from other schools. Sure there are sports in college, but you have to actually be good to be on those teams. Now again, if you are like me, being on a college team is not in the cards for you. Another great thing about being involved in sports is having help when it comes to anything whether it’s from teammates or coaches. In my school, coaches were always there for the athletes from something as little as getting help on homework, to giving them a place to stay if needed. Being in sports and on a team in high school felt like having a second family, and it made you feel great.

10. Free Books

Lastly, the thing we all miss most is the free textbooks! In college, we pay a fortune not only to attend school, but also for our books we need to learn in our classes. Every textbook you need will be close to $100, if you’re lucky! Some can get very, very expensive. In high school, you never had to worry about the cost of really anything you used. Now, you have to scrape together some pennies just to get a stack of note cards for a class. This is definitely one of the biggest struggles a college student faces.