For college students the holiday season is something to look forward to but there is always some kind of apprehension for us. It is finally our time to catch up on some much needed sleep or stay up later with absolutely nothing to do. No matter what it is a nice change of pace for all of us. There have been months of constant studying and worrying, and all we need is a break! However, there is always a love hate relationship with going home!
1) Love being on a break
There will be no homework, tests, projects or reading for a good five weeks. This means we can go to bed on time and wake up late. There is ample time to catch up on the hours of sleep we lost during the semester. We can finally relax!
2) Hate having so much free time
While the break is awesome it feels that we may have too much free time. This makes it almost impossible to want to go back to classes when the break is over. It also seems that nothing gets done because leaving my bed just sounds miserable.
3) Love being with my family
They may drive me crazy but family is number one in my life and it is great to spend so much time with them. As we grow older the time we spend with our family is shortened, which gets difficult. We can finally go out to dinner with them and give our parents the big hugs that we miss. Let’s face it, family is missed tremendously when we are gone for school.
4) Hate being away from my friends
Since I left for school, the number of friends that I have at home has dwindled to almost nothing. The majority of our good friends are with us in college. Living in different cities, especially in Texas, means that you have to take a road trip to see them. It literally sucks not having a social life at all when I am home.
5) Love the food
Whether it's my parents home cooked meals or the restaurants back home, the food is going to be wonderful. My mom is the best cook and my dad makes some pretty mean barbecue; both I could never get enough of. We also have our favorite restaurants back home that we have been deprived from for months. My parents also pay for my food, even better.
6) Hate how things change
Lets face it, everything changes over time. Over the months that we have been gone the dynamic at home has changed and we have changed as well. This can be a shock sometimes. Whether its you parents having a hard time or your siblings getting more sassy, things just weren’t the same as when we left.
7) Love seeing the pets
A lot of us cannot take our animals with us to college. It’s a sad reality having to leave our best companions at home. We finally get to play with them, hug them and cuddle with them. Just like a child they are overly excited when they get to see their parents for the first time in months. It makes the heart happy!
8) Hate how it seems we’ve missed so much of our younger sibling’s life
Every time I go home it feels like my sister has grown up an amazing amount. It's weird to see the changes in her. As she finishes her senior year so much is happening that I don’t know about. As an older sibling I still see my sister as a baby and seeing her growing up makes me wish we could just go back in time and stop growing up and adulting.
Overall, going home has its perks and its not-so-great repercussions. We have to go on with life though. It needs to be our goal to make it the best break that it can be. While there are negatives, I still love gong home!
