I always thought that after going to college, I would never want to go home; and from what I had heard it wasn't "allowed". That I have found is untrue.

My freshman year was very hard for me. I struggled at school and was very unhappy. All I wanted to do was go home but in my mind I had told myself I wasn't going home until Thanksgiving so I set my mind against it. I eventually did let myself go home, thinking it would fix my problems and make me feel better. It did not and this year I transferred to Quinnipiac University.

Going about it this year, I was pretty determined that I wasn't going to go home until Thanksgiving either. This time it was very different, I was convinced I wouldn't even have time to go anyway: there was only one weekend before thanksgiving that I didn't have something planned!

But the stress was eating at me! All I wanted to do was eat a home cooked meal, watch a movie on my couch with my family and sleep in a bed that wasn't a top bunk! But I still couldn't shake the plan I had installed for myself: not going home until Thanksgiving.

I tossed the idea around in my head. What if I missed out on something fun? What if going home just made me miss home more? But what if nothing goes on on campus and I just regret not going home? I literally asked my roommates 50 times what they thought I should do. They were probably at the point of saying "omg just go home!"

So I decided to go home and guess what, it was great. I saw my parents, I ate real food and I relaxed!

What I'm getting at is that despite the pressures of trying to make it to Thanksgiving without going home that I know a lot of people face, its okay to go. I always thought it would just make me homesick or I would get left out, but truth is everyone needs a break from college every once in a while. Go home and eat a real dinner and go out to lunch at your favorite spot with the family or hang out with your dog and watch Netflix. All of this is good.

Everyone is different though. If you don't want to go home, don't. If you feel like you might, do it. I'm very close with my family and I genuinely miss spending time with them and nothing made me feel less stress-free than being with them. I mean who doesn't like free laundry service!

All in all, don't feel weird or odd for missing home, everyone does! And if what you feel is what you need is going home, don't tough it out if you can. Just go home and get a little extra love from your family to get you through!