At the beginning of May, every college student has a decision to make: go home or go your own way. It can be a hard decision, and the right choice is different for everyone. Now, it is probably true that most students know what they’re going to do by the time move-out day rolls around, but a lot goes into deciding what to do and where to live for the next four months. If you don’t want to go home, chances are you already put a lot of time into planning your internship, summer classes, or summer jobs PLUS where you’ll live, how you’ll afford to live away from home, and what you’ll do with your free time. And some people need to stay away. Experience is important, and sometimes this experience can’t be gained at home. Personally, however, I choose to try to go home in the summer, and here are a five reasons why:

1. I actually enjoy spending time with my family.

Yes, I know, shocking. A college student likes spending time with her parents, siblings, grandparents, and dog. Seriously though, they aren’t going to be around forever, and every minute is precious.

2. I'm still friends with my friends from grade school and high school.

I’ve grown up with these people and even though we’ve all changed as we went off to college, I feel (and hope they do too) that I’m most myself when I’m hanging out with them. They watched me grow up and have seen me at some of my highest and lowest points. They know everything about me, so there’s no point in trying to put on any kind of cool front in my behavior. I plan on savoring EVERY SINGLE MOMENT that we can spend together before it becomes impossible to see each other so often.

3. There are still job and internship opportunities that I was really excited about at home.

I didn’t by any means grow up in a big city, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of opportunities for me to get experience in my *hopefully* future field as well as summer jobs. Let’s be honest: we all have do to something to make money, and it’s comforting to return to a job you’ve had in the past with people you are comfortable working with.

4. Living alone is EXPENSIVE.

I’ll be honest. I did look into staying in the Indianapolis area a bit to see if there were better internship opportunities to take advantage of or summer classes that could make my future semesters just a little bit easier. However, after I found a couple of positions that were worth looking into, I figured out just how EXPENSIVE living alone can be. Without scholarships, tuition for summer classes is high. Finding housing is complicated and expensive, especially when I realized I didn’t pay an (admittedly high) price for university housing and then could forget about, but instead had to pay monthly rent. Add to that groceries, entertainment and parking and my meager savings would have been quickly depleted. Plus, having a mom-cooked dinner is always a bonus of going home.

5. I wanted one more summer vacation.

Going into junior year, I realized that pretty soon I wouldn’t have any more summer breaks to enjoy. I still plan on working and taking summer classes and interning, but hopefully I’ll still have time to spend with friends and family, read, relax, and go to the pool. Sooner than I would like to admit, I’ll have a full time job and not be able to do these things as much. Call it selfish, but I wanted one last summer of fun and relaxation before I had to start truly adulting.

There are plenty of reasons to go your own way in the summer. Independence gained at college can be intoxicating, and going home definitely isn't for everyone. However, for me personally, I can't wait to enjoy summer fun and relaxation one more time in Morton, Illinois.