There are so many new changes in your life once you start college. You’re going to a new school, making new friends, and you are on your own. With everything that is going on, you can sometimes forget everyone back home, especially your parents. They have loved you and been there for you since the day you were born and even though you aren’t at home right now, that has not changed. As college students we need to remember that because after only a semester of being away from home, I have discovered that I need to work on making more time for my parents and family.
In high school and before, when majority of current college students lived at home, we spend a lot of our time with our parents. After school and work and also the weekend gave you plenty of time to catch up and stay up to date with what was going on with your parents. That is something that I have missed the most about being away—not being there day to day and feeling distant from what is going on with my family. Every day when my mom would come home from work, I would come downstairs and see how her day was and then we would continue on with our days with dinner and homework and maybe spend a little time all together on the couch probably watching "Modern Family" or whatever TV show was my parents’ current obsession. As my move-in date starting quickly approching, I soon realized what I thought was a small thing was actually a big part of my daily routine that I wasn’t going to be able to do anymore.
Gone were the days of being apart of my family’s everyday lives and now only hearing the highlights every now and then. While getting those updates are wonderful and keep me in the loop, I miss being able to hear about the bad rush hour traffic, crazy co-worker stories, and the little joys of everyone’s day. Some days I wish my family could pick everything up and come live with me so I could have the best of both worlds, but that is obviously out of the question. Never take anything with your family for granted because one day you move out and your relationship with your family will never be the same. This does not have to be a negative change, but it will be different because you will be growing and changing so quickly that you leave being the same person you have always been and not much later you come back home as a different person, hopefully an improved version on yourself so along with that change so will your relationship. Your parents are no longer able to be watching your every move and constantly reminding you to do things, so they slowly turn into your friend and equal rather than your superior.
I am making it my personal mission to connect more with my family despite being away from home and you should too. Catch a ride and go home for a weekend—there will always be another party, call your mom every once in a while and talk about the little things, and respond to that goofy text from your dad that you typically just chuckle at then ignore. The more you start to do these little things, the closer you will feel to your family no matter the distance.
