So you’re a freshman and you’ve been at school for about a month, give or take a couple weeks. For the first time in your college career, you are about to go home. Thousands of freshmen, myself included, arrive home with no sense of direction, and no clue about what they should spend these precious few hours doing. Don’t be one of those kids who sleeps in until noon, wakes up and sits around the house like a fool. Take advantage of your time. After my personal Labor Day journey back home, I devised a list of five essential activities and places you should put on your agenda to ensure that your couple days back at the crib are well spent.

1. Shopping.

If your parents love you, make them take you shopping. Costco, Jewel, Whole Foods, wherever you want, just be sure to stock up on as many snack items you think you need to get you through the week. The more single-serving Kraft mac n cheese cups the better. Now, after you’ve accumulated a mountain-sized pile of filled grocery bags, test your parents’ generosity and try to convince them to take you to the mall. Parents seem to love to buy their freshmen clothes and stuff. When I was at home my lovely mother was kind enough to hook me up with a fresh pair of Nikes.

2. Link up with your squad.

If you came all the way home for the weekend, chances are some of your friends made the journey too. So don’t just sit there, make a group message (if you don’t already have one for some reason) and get some plans going. I’m not trying to tell anyone how to spend time with their crew, but I suggest a nice, comfortable setting ideal for sharing all of your crazy college stories with each other. Maybe go out to eat which brings me to the next item on the list:

3. Hit up your favorite restaurants.

This should probably remain exclusive to places you know don’t exist where you go to school and you probably won’t visit again for a long time, or at least until your next trip home. Still, the future is uncertain, who knows when you’ll be able to eat there again? I advise you go all in, don’t hold back order seconds, thirds! But why stop at one restaurant? Hit all the hometown spots you love! See if your family wants to tag along, maybe they can fund your weekend restaurant binge. Speaking of family:

4. Spend time with your family.

It might be a good idea to spend a considerable amount of time with the family since they are probably the main reason you came home in the first place . No doubt your parents are beyond pumped that you’re home, and they most likely can’t wait to shower you with questions regarding your college life and every single last detail involved in it. Indulge them. Talk and hang out and answer all their questions. It’s the least you can do to thank them for all their love and support since they’re probably the main reason you’re in college in the first place, and they’ll thank you for it.

5. Relax!

Now that you’ve copped some new kicks, stocked up on snacks, hung with the friends and family, and have successfully consumed meals from all your favorite food joints, there’s only one more thing to do. The most important thing to do as a matter of fact, and that’s just to chill. Sit down alone for a second. Hear that? Yeah me neither. When was the last time you could just sit in silence alone with your thoughts? Certainly nowhere on campus is this possible so take advantage of the fact that you are surrounded by the privacy and silence of your own home and just relax.