Going back to school after the summer as a college student means something completely different than it ever did before. In the past years, we often always seemed to dread the end of August and get a nervous feeling when we would see those back-to-school commercials.

However, college students feel excited about heading back to campus and everything that goes along with it. Even though we don’t miss the 8 a.m.’s and stressful assignments, the idea of going back to college and living with your best friends again sounds like a blast.

Bathing suits and cut-off denim shorts at the mall are quickly replaced by flannels, knee high boots, and boyfriend jeans. However, no matter how many of these seasonally festive clothes we may buy with the money from our summer jobs, we know the XL t-shirts and Nike fits we already own will be our daily wardrobe by mid-September, it’s the thought that counts, right?

Nonetheless, it’s nice to be back in a society where dressing like we rolled out of bed 10 minutes before class is acceptable.

It seems that back-to-school shopping signs and commercials begin to appear around the end of June, but we already have all of our essential school supplies. So, while we no longer need to stock up on cute notebooks, matching binders, and the coolest pens, our back-to-school shopping now consists of online orders of (expensive) textbooks, laptops, and thousands of index cards. You also will definitely need to be stocking up on highlighters as well.

The last weeks before you and all of your closest hometown friends head back to college are most likely spent soaking up the lasts of the summer, and the nostalgic feeling that is all too familiar from the summer before comes flying back.

The last trip to your local grocery store (which you won’t miss because you always seem to run into everyone there), the last movie night of the summer with your parents, the last outings with your high school friends, and the last home-cooked meals of the summer –– let’s be real, that is the worst part of leaving home.

While you’ve probably spent most of the summer separated from your roommates and college companions, aka your best friends, you know you will all be reunited soon. The thought of Saturday night football games, tailgates, and your intense love for pizza rolls at 3 a.m. all come flooding back into your head, which quickly eases the pain of separating from your pets.

Group chats are full of excitement for the year to come, and for the growth of whichever organization you may be involved in. Extra detail is spent on deciding what colored decorations you and your roommates are approving to hang up in the apartment, and intense planning is allotted towards things such as who is bringing the blender or who is bringing the vacuum.

Going back to college definitely means something extremely different for everyone, but I’m sure that we’re all at least a little excited to move back in and get back into the school swing of things.