Being away from home can be tough at the beginning of your college experience, but the general homesickness tends to fade after a while. Once you get settled, find your friends, and get into your routine, you tend to not even think about home for a while. I love college and the freedom that comes along with it, but there are just some certain things that tend to always find their way back into my mind from time to time and make me miss home.

1. Pets:

Oh my goodness I cannot explain how much I miss my dog while I am at school. I feel like college kids are just, in general, dog deprived. Exhibit A: my inner excitement whenever I experience a rare dog sighting at school…I know I can’t be alone with this feeling.

2. Home cooked meals:

Yes, our little apartment kitchenettes are fine for the simple egg, pasta, or frozen pizza; but nothing beats a nice big meal prepared (not by you) at home. It does not matter how good or bad your parents are at cooking; once you’ve been at college for a while, any meal cooked at home by them tastes like it was crafted by the hands of a culinary god.

3. Your own room:

Love my roommates and everything but I do miss not having to share a room sometimes. Thankfully none of them snore, but from time to time I miss having some privacy. From someone who has been four to a room and now three to a room, I know how much of a luxury it is to have your own room.

4. Being able to drive anywhere at any time:

Even though I share a car with my siblings at home, being at school makes me miss being able to drive. The freedom of driving around with your favorite music blasting is such a great feeling, even if it means you think you look super cool while driving but forget you’re whippin’ around the family minivan. Not so cool after all.

5. Siblings:

Whether they’re younger or older, a sibling is a sibling and being away from them just plain stinks. No matter how much you may seem to fight or annoy each other when you’re actually together, it’s worse being away from them. Through some strange sibling telepathy, or just inside jokes kept from Mom and Dad, they just seem to get you, and you miss that sort of connection at school.

6. Parents:

I don’t know if it’s just me, but I have a great relationship with my parents and I hate leaving them. I’m not embarrassed to say I at least tear up every time I leave them again for college. It’s just the thought of being on your own now that is totally awesome but simultaneously terrifying; making you miss them.

7. Your Hometown:

Everyone loves at least one thing about their hometown. From little ice cream shops like Stewarts- shout out upstate New Yorkers -, to a favorite restaurant/diner to go to with friends late at night. Don’t even get me started if you live somewhere warm or near the beach; I would miss that all the time, especially during these frigid months. The familiarity of your hometown is just associated with being comfortable, and that is why this is one of the major reasons college kids get nostalgic about home when they leave.

8. Getting taken care of when you’re sick:

Oh boy. The absence of my parents at college has led me to consult the internet many times for what the cause of my stomach ache is. Definitely do not do this, as your slight headache will turn into being the effect of a large brain tumor and you will have about three days to live. At home, it’s so comforting to not feel well and have Mom or Dad take care of you and the only thing you have to worry about is if you want more soup to be brought to you or not. At college, it is not that simple. Not feeling well? Get up anyway, still go to class if you can, think you’re okay but then Google your symptoms, find a way to get to Med Express, wait FOREVER to be seen by a subpar doctor, then find a way back home. Not easy and not fun taking care of your sick self here, that’s for sure.