10. No one knows you anymore | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Lifestyle

13 Things That Changed About Your Hometown Since You Left for College

Things change.

107
golf field

In This Article:

Going to college is one of the most exciting things about the beginning of adulthood. You're making your mark, finding yourself and preparing for the real world. This new chapter in your life will shape you with every experience and soon, college becomes your new normal.

Meanwhile, you barely have the time to notice how everything around you has changed since you left. Life did not magically stop after you went to college; it kept going. If you did notice, here are thirteen things that have changed about your hometown since you left for college.

1. Old friends change

Giphy

Sad, but true, friends come and go. Between you and your high school friends, you guys are on different paths. Therefore, you grow apart as you begin to spread your wings. Yet, you still get a chance to make new friends. Personally, I have the privilege of keeping the same best friend since fifth grade and many of my other friends aren't so lucky.

2. Your hometown becomes a small town

Giphy

In college, you'll notice that it consists of many different people from all over the country. People come from towns that you have never heard of. You get a taste of the real world and home seems to become this small universe and even smaller as you establish a place for yourself.

3. Your bedroom

Giphy

As you get older, your taste changes from pretty in pink to dark or pastels. Once you come home for a break or holiday you'll want to re-arrange, change a couple of things, maybe even get into Pinterest décor. However, there are parents who take this into their own hands and turn your room into an office or a storage place.

4. The hang-out spots

Giphy

When you go back home and make plans to hang out with some old friends, you'll realize the places you guys used to go are not the same. It's not your crowd anymore because you're not a teenager anymore and you're not twenty-one, so you're stuck with finding a new place to have fun.

5. The food

Giphy

Granted, while at home, you have to eat what is cooked for you and it might not be what you want. In college, you have all the control you want, and you get to test your taste buds finally. Yet, food from home still has a place in your heart because nothing can compare to a homecooked meal that you didn't have to make or order.

6. Everyone from high school avoids each other like the PLAGUE

Giphy

I am guilty of this but unless you are like me and my best friends, no one wants to interact with you anymore. Most people even run the other way.

7. You spend more time with family

Giphy

Making a way in this world is difficult, in college you're on your own, but not just yet. While your old friends are too busy not being your friends and everyone else is working, you end up spending most of your time with your family.

8. Your attitude

Giphy

Once you come back home for summer break, it will hit you…You're not in high-school anymore. College has changed you and has even shaped you through various experiences and life will never be the same.

9. Your closet

Giphy

Out with the old, in with the new! You'll realize that all your clothes are from your high school days and you need new ones because bedazzled jeans and band tee shirts are not your thing anymore. So, you end up tossing all of your old stuff and you get the chance to reinvent yourself.

10. No one knows you anymore

Giphy

People from your hometown will recognize you from the same school or through other occasions as you grew up. But the person they knew and the person you are are not the same. Trying to connect with someone who doesn't know the 'new' or 'grown-up' you is very difficult because they assume everything about you from the past.

11. Holidays become more exciting

Giphy

While you're away most of the year, holidays become more fun when you're barely home. You get to be surrounded by family that you haven't seen in so long, you're fed free food, and you get to leave right after before it gets normal.

12. Different things to do

Giphy

Because you have no current hang-out spots when you come back home from college, you discover new things to do for fun even by yourself. You guys start to rely on going out to eat, to the movies, house parties, or even long drives.

13. No place like home

Giphy

After being away from home for so long, you learn to appreciate the little things. Like your favorite local restaurants that none of your friends from college have heard of or even sleeping in something in your full-sized bed that's not a twin.

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
student sleep
Huffington Post

I think the hardest thing about going away to college is figuring out how to become an adult. Leaving a household where your parents took care of literally everything (thanks, Mom!) and suddenly becoming your own boss is overwhelming. I feel like I'm doing a pretty good job of being a grown-up, but once in awhile I do something that really makes me feel like I'm #adulting. Twenty-somethings know what I'm talking about.

Keep Reading...Show less
school
blogspot

I went to a small high school, like 120-people-in-my-graduating-class small. It definitely had some good and some bad, and if you also went to a small high school, I’m sure you’ll relate to the things that I went through.

1. If something happens, everyone knows about it

Who hooked up with whom at the party? Yeah, heard about that an hour after it happened. You failed a test? Sorry, saw on Twitter last period. Facebook fight or, God forbid, real fight? It was on half the class’ Snapchat story half an hour ago. No matter what you do, someone will know about it.

Keep Reading...Show less
Chandler Bing

I'm assuming that we've all heard of the hit 90's TV series, Friends, right? Who hasn't? Admittedly, I had pretty low expectations when I first started binge watching the show on Netflix, but I quickly became addicted.

Without a doubt, Chandler Bing is the most relatable character, and there isn't an episode where I don't find myself thinking, Yup, Iam definitely the Chandler of my friend group.

Keep Reading...Show less
eye roll

Working with the public can be a job, in and of itself. Some people are just plain rude for no reason. But regardless of how your day is going, always having to be in the best of moods, or at least act like it... right?

1. When a customer wants to return a product, hands you the receipt, where is printed "ALL SALES ARE FINAL" in all caps.

2. Just because you might be having a bad day, and you're in a crappy mood, doesn't make it okay for you to yell at me or be rude to me. I'm a person with feelings, just like you.

3. People refusing to be put on hold when a customer is standing right in front of you. Oh, how I wish I could just hang up on you!

Keep Reading...Show less
blair waldorf
Hercampus.com

RBF, or resting b*tch face, is a serious condition that many people suffer from worldwide. Suffers are often bombarded with daily questions such as "Are you OK?" and "Why are you so mad?" If you have RBF, you've probably had numerous people tell you to "just smile!"

While this question trend can get annoying, there are a couple of pros to having RBF.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments