Coming home from college for summer break is a process.
You experience all the emotions and are disoriented and confused. Well, for me, I become more confused than usual. Summer break is just a weird transition time. You've had freedom for eight months only to return to living in your parents' house with their rules. Personally, I was so ready to come back home for break. But either way, adjusting back takes a while and can be stressful. But here's a list of emotions you might feel when you come back home for the summer.
1. Sadness
You might experience sadness because you can't just walk across the hall and see your friends. You also don't have as much freedom at home as you do at school. I just really miss all of my friends and their constant guidance and laughter. I also miss have a Chick-fil-A nearby. The closest CFA to my house is 30 minutes away, while at school it's only a few miles down the road. If you are reading this, please bring me chicken minis.
2. Happiness
In contrast to sadness, you might be happy! For one thing, I know that I was happy to have some good home-cooked meals and nice hot showers with good water pressure and no flip flops. I really do not miss community bathrooms. When you go home, you get to see all your hometown friends. Seeing them and catching up makes me super happy. Also, my own bed. I love a good nap, and a nap in your own bed makes life seem great.
3. Motivation
That first week back you might feel motivated. You might feel motivated to unpack all your bags and clean your room, or you might just get a job and work. Some people might even be motivated to start exercising and look beach-ready. From my experience though, I have been home for a week now and haven't been motivated to finish unpacking. So that tells you where my priorities lie.
4. Laziness
And yes, on the other hand you might be just plain lazy when you get home. There are no papers, tests, or projects to do and you just want to do nothing except watch Netflix and stuff your face. Honestly, this is what I've have been doing a lot of lately. Nothing is more rewarding than binge-watching your favorite TV show after a hard week of finals and moving out.
5. Sleepiness
Being lazy is a choice, but being sleepy isn't. You might be sleepy because your body is trying to tell you that you are sleep-deprived. School takes a huge toll on your sleep schedule and summer is your time to make up for it. It feels good to crawl into bed at 9 p.m. and wake up at 9 a.m.; sometimes that 12 hours of beauty sleep is just what you needed.
No matter what you're feeling, most everyone is just ready to get settled into a routine until they go back to school in the fall. Whatever you do this summer, make it a good one!
