For most school-goers in the United States, we all have (thankfully) entered "spring semester 2018." We are halfway to our most favored vacation, summer break. To the high school seniors across the country, who are anxiously awaiting their acceptance letters from personally prized universities and colleges, this feeling of thankfulness is far more exaggerated.
Once your acceptance letter arrives, the excitement of leaving home is the first thing that you, and most other high school seniors, will celebrate. Oh, the independence! The freedom! The nonexistent curfew! Endless junk food!
In reality, what ensues after you pack up yourself and your belongings and trudge away from the comfort of home, will no doubt surprise you.
On your first day of college, you will wipe away a few tears while saying goodbye to mom and dad when they drop you off, or just mom, or even just dad; I mean heck, everyone! Even grandma, and grandpa, or whoever else may have taken care of you for the past 17-18 years.
The proceeding days, however, you'll be starkly surprised by the amount of freedom that you really do have. In fact, it'll actually be quite hard to adjust it. This is where most college freshmen make the worst mistakes like not staying on track with their schedule, failing to make due dates, partying so much they haven't done their homework, and much much more.
Here are a few reasons why going off to college makes you love and appreciate Home so much more:
1. Homecooked Meals.
For this first year of your freshman year, you'll go through a couple phases when it comes to food.
First, you'll enjoy the glitz and glamour of your University's food options. You'll feel content getting your 3 meals a day and everything will be okay. Then, maybe a month or two later, you'll start to realize how much your campus's dining services has started to taste like cafeteria food. That's right, the touring season is over. Without the motivation to recruit more future students, your University's cafeteria food has gotten significantly less appetizing.
Commence the second phase. You will start spending all of your money on take-out food and gas station snacks. Hello, freshman fifteen! Then, that'll quickly lose its' fire too, especially when you only have 18 cents in your bank account.
Once Thanksgiving break comes around, you will be beyond thankful to treat yourself to a homecooked meal. There are actual flavors and your favorite personalized varieties. There's comfort, for sure, and it is all cooked just the way you like it. Your first homecooked meal after months of going without is guaranteed to taste like a five-star meal. You will be more than thankful for Thanksgiving.
2. Unwinding.
Coming home compares to being a hermit crab that has gotten too big and has finally taken its' shell off. You know what I mean?
In your first year of college, it can be super hard to find your place. In a lot of cases, some people find their niche immediately. But for the normal person, it takes a little trial and error.
Keeping up appearances can be stressful, especially when you're trying to make friends on a regular basis. It can get exhausting, real quick.
When you walk through your front door after months of being stuck on campus, it's like taking your pants off after a long day. There is definitely something special about being home, surrounded by your friends and family, that melts away all of the worries and stresses that have been swirling around your mind since August.
3. Siblings.
This could even apply to only childs, who start to form better relationships with their parents and cousins while they're away. Space is always good. But too much space makes your homesickness almost unbearable. In your first year of college, you'll start to notice your siblings missing you.
Sometimes you'll get a random text, sweet message on facebook, snapchat, or tag on a funny meme from your sister/brother. Then you'll find yourself missing them just as much.
Once it's time to come back home, it is almost impossible not to notice how much better your relationship with your sibling has gotten. Not only do they want to catch up with you, they actually want to hang out with you! In no time, you want to go out to eat with, catch a movie with, go to the park with, or take a walk and talk about random gossip and brand new interests with your siblings.
As time passes, those newly formed bonds only get stronger. Even siblings who fight the most start to feel your absence when you're gone for too long. In no time, you'll start deeming your sibling your best friend. And it'll stay that way from then on.
4. Pets.
This is self-explanatory. Coming home to see your mom's cat or your family dog is always the best reunion. They remember you! And they missed you! Just like you missed them.
5. Your parents/guardians.
Best for last. While you're away, it is almost like your mom calls you even more than she used to. She just wants to talk or catch up and see how your classes are. And occasionally, you'll even call her just to talk. It's the same for any guardian really.
Over time, your parent starts to see you as an adult, which gives you the freedom and independence that you've so desperately craved the past five years. But then after a while, all that you'll want is to be babied. A long hug from your mom after months of away always feels like a pallet cleanser that washes away all of your worries.
So much of what you go through in college starts being understood by you in a completely different perspective now. For some students, they're as old, or even older, than their parents were when they had them. At some points, you'll even realize how much stress it is just to survive, nonetheless with a little human attached to you.
You quickly start to appreciate your parents much more, especially how much they've done for you. Their hard work is unimaginable, and putting yourself in their shoes can be a feat in itself. Your parents become superheroes again, they fix all of your problems when they hear a plea for help. They've always been the best support in the world, but now you truly see it.
