It’s that time of year again: Back to home-sweet-college. The summer has passed and now we’re all resettling into our new rooms, decorating, reconnecting with friends we haven’t seen in a few months and trying to get into the swing of things. It’s easy to sit back and reminisce about the summertime at home when there was absolutely nothing to do. But, for college students that go to school relatively close to their hometown, those little nostalgic times aren’t too far out of reach. Here are five perks for why going to school close to home isn’t so bad after all.
1. You’re close to home.
The name says it all, obviously. Being away at college when you’re fairly close to home gives you distance, but at the same time, you’re close enough. For me, I’m not that much of a homebody, but I definitely love seeing my family whenever I can. Living close to home allows me to see them as much as possible. If my family has a big get-together, I can always take a short train ride home and not have to miss out on the fun.
2. You don’t need to spend much money to travel back home.
Home is just a short car or train ride away when you go to a tri-state school. A lot of my friends on campus come from far away, and whenever they want to go back to their hometowns, either they have to overspend on airfares or they trek 15 plus hours in a car. Plus during the holidays, airlines increase their prices tremendously, forcing them to spend more money than they want to only see their family for a couple of days. Unfortunately, my friends spend more time traveling than actually seeing their family. Just in general, plane travel is super expensive, so coming home is just a two-to-three-times-a-year thing for my friends that live far away.
3. Your parents can easily come visit you
“Did you just say a real restaurant?”
Having your parents close enough to visit you is definitely a bonus. Of course, it’s great to see them and catch up, but it’s even better to have them take you out for a real meal: Well, something other than college food. Sometimes all of those sandwiches and cereals really pile up and you just need a nice chicken Parmesan fixing.
4. If you ever get really sick and need to leave campus, you can quickly go home.
Trust me, getting sick in college is extremely hard to avoid. You’re constantly exposed to so many people that may be contagious, so unless you have the immune system of The Hulk, you’re guaranteed to come down with some sort of sickness. Personally, I’ve been very sick at school before and needed to come home to recuperate. Having the ability to easily travel home, rest up and enjoy homemade chicken noodle soup for a few days helped me recover so much faster than recovering at school.
5. Moving into apartments off-campus is so much more simple.
If you’re an upperclassmen and are moving into an apartment, lugging stuff from home is so much easier and less expensive when you live close. Of course, it would require taking maybe one to two car loads of furniture—but it certainly is cheaper than using a moving service to transport your precious belongings across the country or having to spend more money on a furnished apartment.
In general, going to college close to home makes life so much simpler. It’s easy to see your family and traveling from school to home is less stressful. Why would any college student want to add any more stress onto their already busy lives, am I right? Really, it’s all about the convenience.
