Being home from college is such a bittersweet feeling. All sorts of things go through your head while your home. If you’ve ever been to college and came home, here’s some things you can relate to. If you’re leaving to head to college here's some things to prepare for when you return.
Where is my ____
This is the constant struggle. You’ve packed your room up to leave for college, and then you unpacked it to live somewhere new for a few months. Then you have to pack up your college room to head home and when you get home, what the point of unpacking? So you constantly ask where’s my ____. All your things won’t be in the same place they were for 18 years of your life before you left for college.
You miss the freedom
When you come home from college you’ll miss the freedom to do whatever you want whenever you want. You return to the world of constantly being asked where you’re going, or what you’re doing. Back to the world of having to ask to have people over, and sharing that you’re spending the night at someone’s house.
You’ll miss the late night runs
You’ll miss the late night phone calls for food because you can. You’ll miss being able to just walk out of your dorm and walk down the street for late night McDonald's or ice cream. You’ll also miss the late night texts of “come over”, just because you’re bored and wanna sit on the couch and watch Netflix with someone.
You’ll miss your roommate
You may argue with your roommate at times, but you’ll miss them. You’ll miss always having someone to do something with. You’ll miss being able to have someone to go to the grocery store with, to buy books with or to just simply take the trash out with. You’ll miss your roommate because you won’t have someone to binge watch Netflix with while eating yet another gallon of ice cream. You’ll miss your roommate because you won’t have someone to call you to get out of that awful group meeting. You’ll miss your roommate because they know everything about you, and you won’t be able to share everything that happened that day with them. Overall you’ll miss your roommate because you love them.
You’ll be glad to have your own room
While you love your roommate to death, you’ll enjoy having your own room. You’ll love to be able to put whatever you want, whenever you want. You’ll be able to call whoever you want late at night and not worry about waking your roommate up. If you want to leave clothes all over your room you can.
You’ll be glad to have your hometown back
You’ll be glad to have your home town back, where everyone knows you. You’ll be glad to be back at home, where you know everything around you. You’ll be back in your hometown and the memories will flood you. All the memories, you’ll drive past the old high school and remember all the hours you spend on the black top sweating at band practice. You’ll laugh at the good times and laugh some more at the bad too. You’ll be glad to be home because you know everyone’s cars and everyone knows yours. You won’t be able to the store without someone asking what your doing at the store.
You’ll be glad to be home, for all the little things
You’ll love all the little things. You’ll having to feed all the animals, and take care of them. You’ll love the simple things of how everyone parks their cars when they’re home. You’ll love that little dent in the barn that your ex put there. You’ll love how everyone sits on the couch together eating chick fil a. You’ll love all the little things that happen around the house that you forgot about while you’re away.
You miss your school friends
You’ll miss all your friend at college. You’ll miss hanging out with them because they truly get you. They’ve seen you at your best and at your worst. They're your go to, while you’re at school. Everything you do, you’ll wish they were their. You’ll need to get a dress for something and you’ll wish they were with you to share in the experience. Let’s be honest, they make your life better.
You get to see your family
This will be your favorite part. You’ll get to see your family everyday. You’ll be able to just walk down the hall if you need something from mom or dad. You’ll be able to get all of grandma’s sweets. You won’t miss out on family events anymore. You’ll see them so much you might get sick of them, but then you’ll remember you won’t be home long so you’ll give them a hug and continue to enjoy the time with them.\
You’ll love the food
Nothing is like home cooked food. You will hang out with your friends later in the evening just so you can have a home cooked meal. You will begin to remember that the dining court food really wasn’t that good. The meals you didn’t really like in high school will soon become your favorite. Any meal that's cooked at home you will love to eat.
You don't have to do your laundry
While you’re home you won’t have to pay for laundry. You might even get lucky and not have to do it. You won’t have to spend your whole Sunday doing laundry and making sure you don’t leave it in to long so it doesn’t disappear. You won’t have to dig around your room to find quarters or have to wait for machines.
You get to see your high school friends
This will be bittersweet. You’ll miss the random adventures while you were away at college. But things will be different. Your high school friend group will all have new friends. Everyone will have jobs and be busy. You won’t be able to just show up at their house and go out. The activities you guys will do will change as well. Bowling just won’t be the same anymore, you’ll enjoy line dancing til 2 am now. You’ll all miss each and you’ll have so much to catch up on. You’ll have to talk about everything you guys did, while you were all apart. Conversations will change, you all will no longer relate to everything each other is doing. You’ll all be leading different lives and sharing all the fun things.
Things will be different
When you return things will be different. Your family will have learned to have you around all the time. Things will be different. The town will keep moving and changing. The town won’t be the same. The high school will get new leaders, the friday night go to restaurant will get new waiters. New things will be built, being away from school things at home will change and that’s okay.
When you return from college you’ll have some of the best times of your life. You’ll love being home. You’ll miss college but then you’ll realize you’ll be back soon. You’ll love making memories at home!
“Home a place your feet may leave, but your heart never will.”