Whether or not you ventured to a Beach Week immediately after school ended, this is a popular week for first years to return home for the longest stretch of their young college career. Though I've only been home for a few days, I've already noticed many interesting aspects of settling back into home life for the summer.
1. Everyone and everything at your high school looks smaller than before
From the hallways to the lockers, to the students themselves, you've become so used to being the youngest at your school that you forgot what it was like to be a high school senior. The crowds of freshmen walking by don't help; they seriously look like middle schoolers to you now. Many of them may not even realize that you are a college student. Wow, you feel old and worldly compared to them.
2. It's hard to believe that an entire school year passed in your hometown while you were away at school this year
Your school and town don't look any different than they did the summer before you left for school, which may lead you to contemplate how an entire year occurred at your all-too-familiar high school and you just weren't there for it. We all wonder what life is like at home when we're not around, and it can be a little shocking to fully comprehend that without you, life at home just goes on as scheduled. It's a little weird to walk around, visit some treasured teachers, and realize that you don't attend high school or live permanently at home anymore.
3. You don't unpack your winter clothes because you know you won't need them until you return to college
The task of unpacking for the summer is much less daunting than was the task of packing for college for one simple reason: you absolutely won't need all of the stuff you brought home over the summer. Why not leave some boxes packed in the attic with sweaters, college room decor, and boots? Don't waste your time at home unpacking these things! Go outside, enjoy the weather, and breathe in the scent of no homework!
4. Everything you do in your hometown feels slightly like you're on vacation
You may have felt this way visiting local food establishments and hangouts over previous breaks, but now it becomes truly apparent that you have a limited amount of time to indulge in the comforts of home life. Take advantage of your freer days and visit your treasured hometown pizza place, ice cream parlor, burger joint, etc. The three months of summer may feel like forever, but soon enough you'll be saying goodbye to home life once again.
5. You can't imagine studying in your house anymore because that's what you do at school
Building off of the last point, it's hard for you to watch your siblings slaving away over piles of homework when you haven't done work at home in an entire year. Obviously, you realize that they're not in college yet, but it's still funny to think of home as the place where you did the bulk of your studying and stressing out about school. Leave that in the library from now on!
6. You now FaceTime with your college friends to keep in touch
Depending on how far from your school you live, you may not see most or any of your college friends over the summer. That's where a handy dandy little invention called FaceTime becomes useful. You probably FaceTimed with your family and home friends at least once during the school year, but now you insist on doing the same with some treasured college pals to keep up with their summers and look forward to when you will be reunited.
7. You appreciate your summer excursions with family and friends just a little bit more
Summer family vacations and fun outings with friends take on a different meaning now that you've experienced so much time away from them. Extended time with treasured loved ones may seem like icing on the cake of summer, but cherish moments of family road-trip bonding or late-night hangouts with friends. You may have a whole other life at college waiting for you come late August, but the hometown crowd still cares about you dearly.
