Being home for the holidays is arguably one of the best parts of the school year. You get to see everyone you’re missing from home, and you get a well-deserved break from the hectic life of a college student. Here are five things that I’ve found most true about being home for the holidays:
1. You realize just how much you missed your mom. Clue: it’s A LOT.
Even though I go to college fairly close to my hometown, I still feel this difficult separation when I’m not at home. The way I felt about home in high school differs from how I feel about home now; there’s a higher level of appreciation for everything your mom did for you once you’re out of the house and you have to do it for yourself. It’s also amazing to have food that hasn’t been made in a dining hall, that you don’t have to leave the building to get, and that is socially acceptable to eat in your pajamas. All of a sudden, you and your mom don’t have enough time to spend together, and you’re jam packing your days with everything you’ve missed doing together for the past few months.
2. You remember that your dogs are basically your best friends.
Remember all those summer days and school breaks when your parents were at work and the dog kept you company basically forever? That resurfaces when you’re home and your mom isn’t, but the dogs are. You also realize just how weird you can get in front of your dogs, such as eating everything in the house at once or dancing around in your underwear. Not that I’ve done either of those things…
3. You see people from high school that you haven’t seen in a long time.
When you’re still on that 8am to 3pm, Monday through Friday schedule and graduation (a.k.a. FREEDOM) seems so far away, you don’t truly understand that you may never see some of these people again, and this is probably the last time you’ll all be together at the same time. That is, unless you’re home for the holidays and you see someone from high school at the movies, the mall, or virtually anywhere you and your friends tend to hang out. On a side note, college matures all of us and you don’t realize that you might even look different in appearance until you say “Hi! I haven’t seen you in forever! Wow this is so crazy!” and the person doesn’t even recognize you…
4. You get to see all your coworkers from your home job.
If you’re one of those college students with a job at home, or if you get a holiday job so you can make some money while being home for almost a month, then you know how fun it is to catch up with everyone. It’s also fun to work those grueling holiday shifts where the whole world is at your cash register, and you’ve been giving the good customer service smile for so long that you look like you might have gotten Botox injections.
5. You realize just how close you are to all of your college friends.
Living in a residence hall, going out on the weekends, persevering through classes, and overall trying to figure out what in the heck you’re going to do with your life is what cements my friends and I together, and we miss each other way too much when we’re all at home and apart. On the flip side, it does make for an awesome reunion in January when you’re so ready for second semester after a nice, long vacation from reality.
