One of the weirdest transitions I've ever made was coming home for the summer after my first year of college. Freshman year, especially, is a time when you're experiencing total freedom, and with something as simple as sleeping in your old room, things can take a complete 180 degree turn. I remember that first summer, it was strange, because being back home, it almost felt like nothing had changed at all, even though the 365 days before made up one of the most formative years of my life. Now that I'm back home (briefly) for the summer after my second year of undergrad, here are a few common themes I've noticed:
1. Fully-stocked pantries and home cooking means weight gain just got 10 times easier.
Freshman 15, meet summer 25. When budgeting your own grocery trips every couple weeks, you only buy what you need, and not much more. Being home for the summer means every time you walk through the kitchen, you also walk through a pantry full of all the snacks you used to eat in high school. Better check on your old gym membership.
2. You remember how cool your parents can be.
With few friends around, sometimes you have to hang out with your parents, which isn't so bad anyway. Most of the time it means free food, and outside that, you appreciate your parents a lot more when you don't live with them any more.
3. Laundry starts to pile up in your bedroom floor.
Maybe it's because your mom did all your laundry in high school or maybe it's because you still haven't unpacked all your clothes, but if you're moving back in, there are probably piles of your clothes everywhere.
4. Seeing old friends makes you miss being in high school.
Old friends are great because you can pick up right where you left off, but being with the same people in the same places you used to go can definitely bring nostalgia.
5. ...But something about your high school friends makes you miss your college friends even more.
Not at all to diss high school friends because they're awesome, but being with a group of people makes you miss the group of friends you have at school.
6. Around two weeks in, boredom starts to set in.
No explanation needed here. Binge-watching Netflix and hanging with your parents is great and all, but after a while, anything gets old.
7. You find yourself comparing everything in your hometown to your college town.
Better restaurants, better places to hang out, better stores. After you fall in love with a college town, not even your hometown can compare to it in terms of entertainment.
8. Random things from your college dorm or apartment are scattered all over your house.
When you live on your own, there's definitely a need for things like toilet brushes and kitchen supplies and wall decorations, but when you move back into a house that already has all of those things, sometimes there's nowhere to go.
9. After you've lived away, you gain a whole new appreciation for home.
Seeing things after you've been away for a while can put a whole new positive spin on places you used to hate before college.
10. ...But you still can't wait to get back to school.
The best thing about college is it keeps getting better, so you know this fall is going to be awesome. Here's to an awesome few months at home, but to an even better time at school.
