Uniforms: you love them, or you hate them. Many schools around the world inflict their students with itchy polo shirts and unflattering plaid skirts. As a person who was forced to wear khaki for 12 years, I am well aware of the woes and even advantages of wearing a uniform. Once graduation day arrived, it hit me how the chains of uniforms were going to disappear forever. In college, you could wear whatever you want. Nobody would give you a detention if your skirt was too short or if your hair was too long! Just the thought of it already felt so liberating, so free! But once I got to this wonderland of self-expression and lack of neatly pressed pants, I discovered a few things.

1. You either roll out of bed or take hours to get ready.

There's no in between. I'm personally a fan of rolling out of bed, putting on a bra (one with minimal underwire, if I happened to do my laundry that week) and trading my Snoopy pajama pants for sweats or shorts. Or if I happen to crash in my sweats the day before, that's what I'm wearing. (They're only pajamas if you make them out to be.) When you wore uniforms, you didn't have to spend time picking out what to wear, it was just there. Was it clean? Yes? Wear it. On special occasions I spend a solid hour or so to put in contacts, do my makeup and pick out the perfect outfit with a real people bra only to immediately take it all off after class and get in my pajamas. Force of habit. But finally, you get to express yourself with your clothing and it's awesome! Why not take the time to make yourself feel and look good?

2. It still feels cool to wear jeans.

(This can be interchangeable with any article of clothing that you were only allowed to wear once. Maybe bandanas. Or cowboy boots.)

I don't know about your school, but in mine it was a special occasion to wear jeans. We even had competitions throughout the school to see who got to wear jeans one day instead of our uniforms. And when you go to a school without uniforms, you can wear them everyday! If you're a jean person, of course. Like I said, sweatpants are my go-to. They go with everything. Invest in a pair of fancy sweatpants, they'll make your life so much comfier.

3. You wear clothes from your old school way too often.

Reppin' your alma mater isn't really ever a bad thing. But if you went to a uniform school, you realize that a majority of your closet space is shirts and sweatshirts with your school's name on them. My school released a new shirt every year that we could pair with jeans on special days and those are a good majority of my t-shirts. And when it was cold outside, it was just a habit to grab a hoodie with your school colors, because that's all you could actually wear to school to keep you warm. Not that it's a bad thing, but you really don't own many other clothes. There was no need to!

4. You own a lot of shorts.

If your uniform included skirts, it was a must that you wore shorts with them. Especially if it was windy outside. Or if you were walking up stairs at any point. Wondering eyes are bound to land on something you didn't want them to see. You had a different pair of shorts for every day, even though nobody could see them. It made you feel like you were expressing yourself a little bit, even if nobody could tell. Now that I've moved to a city near the mountains, these shorts are just taking up space. Except when I wear skirts. Then they're heroes once again.

5. YOU DON'T HAVE TO SHAVE!

In a majority of uniform-enforced schools, boys are forced to be clean shaven. If they weren't, it was punishable by after school detention or even a teacher giving you a razor and making you go to the bathroom and do it. If you were a skirt wearer, unshaved legs just felt weird and were generally frowned upon. You felt the need to wear knee highs to cover them up, or just take the plunge and shave. Maybe even wear pants if you were allowed to. But when you don't have to adhere to a strict dress code, the razor no longer has to be a part of your daily routine. Throw it out! You don't need it anymore!

6. Long, rainbow colored hair is weird to see.

Today's fashion includes people who identify as men with long hair (and women with shorter hair) and everyone and their mom having brightly colored hair. These are forms of self-expression that are not only flipping a bird to social and gender norms, but are just plain fun! But in most schools, uniform and non-uniform, you could get in trouble for showing up with hair past your ears or anything unnaturally colored. That's the point of uniforms in some ways, looking "clean cut," but where's the fun in that? Once you say "sayonara" to dress codes and khaki pants, your hair is free to experiment with.

7. You get to be creative.

There were definitely perks to uniforms, sure. But once you go out into the real world... or at least a school without them, the world of fashion is at your feet. Even if your outfit of choice is a high school sweatshirt and big sweatpants, you are still free to experiment with style and expressing yourself. It's a cool world and you never have to look just like everyone else ever again.

8. You still appreciate your uniform experience.

Even though some days it felt drab to wear the same things every day, there were some good moments. Morning routines were easier and you can't deny having some awesome times in those Oxford button ups and blazers. It will always be a part of your school experience, no matter what.