1. A Couch
Unless you’re fortunate enough to live in an apartment at school, odds are your living space is completely devoid of an essential piece of furniture: a couch. The inconvenient truth is that they simply don’t fit inside the cramped dorm rooms featured at most colleges. Although lying on your bed or propping a pillow up against the wall might serve, there’s really nothing quite like kicking back on a couch to relax and watch Netflix or play some video games. Another thing: you can comfortably eat snacks on a couch, but eating food on your bed isn’t particularly sanitary. The unavoidable truth is that one day you’ll suddenly find yourself yearning for a couch in place of that uncomfortable old desk chair in your dorm room.
2. A Fully Stocked Refrigerator
To begin with, many people don’t even have fridges located in their dorm room. If you are lucky enough to possess one, you face the daunting task of actually buying the food and beverages to put inside it. Believe it or not, food and drinks didn’t just magically appear inside the fridge at your home. Your parents had to purchase that stuff, and now it’s your responsibility to spend your own money on the things you choose to stock your fridge with. This pretty much sucks—especially for the average cash-deprived college student. The days of free food available 24/7 in your refrigerator are over; it’s all up to you now.
3. Driving
The majority of college students don’t bring their cars to campus, especially if the school is located in an urban area. To be honest, students don’t really NEED a car at college—especially with new transportation services such as Über and Lyft. Not to mention the fact that most things at college (classes, restaurants, stores) are within comfortable walking distance. However, for me, one favorite hometown pastime is driving with the windows down and jamming my favorite Spotify playlist. Additionally, rather than rely on public transportation or Über, it’s nice to be able to be able to drive yourself wherever you want and whenever you want. Plus, it’s a lot less money.
4. Pets
With all the commotion of leaving behind family and friends, it’s almost easy to forget about the extra family member(s) from your house. In my case, I had to say goodbye to the dog that I’d grown up with since 5th grade. It was really odd not to have a dog walking around my living space and constantly jumping up onto my lap throughout the day. Thus, in my experience, you only realize how important your pet is to your life when they’re no longer living with you. For many people, pets are an unconditional friend that consistently provide a source of comfort. It’s certainly difficult to adjust to life without that type of support.
5. Your Neighborhood
It’s difficult to truly quantify this one, mostly because college students come from a wide variety of neighborhoods. However, the bottom-line is that everyone’s neighborhood holds particularly special things for them. These could range from a local baseball field, a favorite store, or specific a type of food. I find myself missing places like the park down the street from my house and the local sushi place in the downtown area of my neighborhood. In any case, the absence of these unique facets of your hometown at college will be noticed.
Indeed, sometimes it’s the smallest details that make you miss living at home.
