In less than a week, I will be packing up all of my stuff to head to RIT for my second year and moving into my first apartment. I had one of the best years of my life last year and am incredibly excited to be back.
Preface: If you're not already psyched to go back to college for fall semester, then you probably chose the wrong college. Stop reading this article and transfer ASAP.
College/university should be the best four years of your life. You get to meet new people, have new experiences and a ton of newfound freedom. If you're a returning second-, third- or fourth-year student, then you know exactly what I'm talking about. Here's some extra reasons to be excited for returning.
1. Friends
I know this summer I have definitely missed seeing everyone around campus, and most college kids can probably agree. A lot of the friends made in college aren't exactly our next-door neighbors at home, so it can be challenging to see them over the summer.
This summer, the friends that lived closest to me were still about an hour away. Once I go back to school and everyone gets moved in, we'll all be fewer than five minutes away from each other (I'm just real excited to go back to school and see my pals).
2. Distance from everyone else
This was as nice as I could think to put it, but here it is. Sometimes you can spend a little too much time with some people. After being away at school for nine months and only being home for three, you spend a lot of time with people that you haven't seen all that much (if you have family that can be kind of a handful, you'll understand).
I love my family and they love me, but I think we're both ready for me to go back to school.
3. School activities
Every college has plenty of clubs, sports, sororities/fraternities, etc. that are exciting for students. As a student, there is a high probability that you participate in at least one activity on campus that you enjoy. Going back this semester will let you go back to participating and having fun.
4. Extracurricular activities.
At college, students have a lot of freedom that often isn't experienced at home. Outside of keeping up on school work, going to class and participating in school activities, there is always the occasional extracurricular activity with your college friends.
Whether it's going swimming in the school fountain in the middle of the night or exploring the forest around your college, you're bound to get into something random with some friends at some point this semester.
5. Freedom to be stupid
I'm probably most excited about getting the freedom back that college gives me. At home, it's weird if I wanna go outside at midnight because there's a Pikachu in the back lawn, but it's not frowned upon at school (also, there's a ton more Pikachu at school than there is at home). At college, you can stay up for three days with no judgment from parents or do a whole semester's worth of work in a week.
You get the freedom to make stupid decisions and learn from them. Personally, I think that's what college is all about.
