1. People will ask you (probably multiple times per conversation), "But really, why so far?"
2. To that, you will respond, "Oh, you know, change of scenery," while mumbling to yourself, "If I hear this question one more time ... "
3. You will also learn to adapt to the fact that no one from home will be awake when you wake up.
4. And you will wake up to more text messages than you have ever before (thanks to the time change again). It's actually pretty cool.
5. But the snow will hit for the first time and you will find yourself searching for warmth ...
6. You refuse to get out of bed when the temperature at home and the temperature at school are reciprocated.
7. People believe you are some sort of unicorn and ask you 100 things about where you are from.
8. If you're from the West Coast, prepare to answer how many palm trees there are in your yard.
9. And if you're from L.A., they'll ask for the address and geographic coordinates of whatever famous person they can think of.
10. No one draws a heart on your first day of school lunch.
11. Or better yet, no one packs you a first day of school lunch.
12. You learn that laundry does not just eventually get done.
13. You also learn that the washing machine/ dryer likes to eat your socks.
14. You promised 600 people weekly FaceTime dates.
15. You will most likely get around to about three.
16. You tell yourself before you leave home, "I am never going to call my parents; the distance is going to be such a gift."
17. Wrong. You find yourself calling them every time you are walking down the street alone or waiting for class to start.
18. And when they don't answer, you start yelling at their voicemail with the classic guilt trip, "Do you not even miss me at all? Do you remember how far away I am?"
19. Yes, they still have lives even when you are not home.
20. I know, it was hard for me to believe also.
21. You actually miss your siblings.
22. You can try bugging your roommate and nagging them like you nag your brothers and sisters, but I promise you, they will not find your weird noises as entertaining as you do.
23. Going off of that, your siblings will not appreciate the weird noises any more than they did when you left in August.
24. You don't actually realize how far away from home you are until the first time you get sick.
25. Student Health Services is not the same as your doctor from home.
26. No, they will not give you whatever prescription that you tell them to give you.
27. They also don't like your response of, "Well, can you just call my mom and ask what I was on the last time I was sick?"
28. No one monitors whether you do your homework or not.
29. Which is nice because your parents are not anywhere near close enough to come check if you are studying.
30. When people go home for long weekends you look at them like ...
31. Meanwhile, you are rocking out in your room with Netflix and actually find yourself pretty content.
32. You also realize the drama that goes on in your household and feel thankful that you are not home to experience it.
33. You miss your pets.
34. A lot.
35. You will ask your parents to flip the camera on FaceTime so that you can see them.
36. You will try and talk to them as if they are humans.
37. They will not understand you. Guaranteed.
38. You act like you are not excited to go home, but you are really counting down the days.
39. You have a list of things you are going to do for Thanksgiving break ready in September.
40. The extent of the care packages your parents send are proven to have direct correlation with how far you are.
41. 4,000 miles gets you some pretty good stuff.
42. Being far away makes it so much better to see your best friend.
43. It also gives you an excuse to repost any BuzzFeed article on their wall that has the words "long distance relationship."
44. You realize how independent you are.
45. You also are somewhat impressed with yourself that you have survived up until this point.
46. Your family will also be impressed that you made it this far.
47. No matter how comfy your mattress topper is ...
48. There's no place like home.
