You just walked out of your last final. The sun is shining and your brain is finally free of stress. You walk home happy and filled with excitement. It is finally summer, the endless days of sunshine and adventures. As you get to your house you walk inside and realize you still have to pack. After you deal with the sad packing up of your life here at school you begin your journey home.

If you are an out of state student, like me, that journey could be on a plane or a really, really long drive home. You push through knowing that you have an amazing summer ahead of you without having to worry about classes, homework and some of your adult responsibilities. After you get home you throw all your stuff in your room and spend a day or two with your family.

Then it hits you.

You’ve made it home, the school work is done and you are prepared to have the best summer of your life. But, all of your best friends are back at home in a different state, hours and hours away.

This is the struggle of being an out of state student. You have worked your butt off for months at school and had some fun along the way. You made amazing friends who stuck with you after all-nighters, two-day long camp trips and mountains of stress. Now with the stress of school gone, you do not get to enjoy the best of times with your best friends.

That first summer away from those amazing friends is extremely difficult. You are probably working a crappy job that you are not that passionate about. While I am passionate about pizza, serving other people yummy food for 45 hours a week all summer long is not the ideal way to earn money.

You hyped summer up as a time without stress and it is. Enjoy that time. Read a book or two, pick up a new hobby or focus on your fitness, in this time away from your friends. Think about it this way, without those friends encouraging you to spend money you can save up to visit your friends when you miss them.

Spend time with your family. This is something that we often forget is so important. After being home with your family for about two weeks, all those little annoyances come back. Your mom yells at your for not doing the dishes the way she likes and you yell at her for moving your stuff. It is normal. Try to see through these little annoyances and remember, you only get three months with them, enjoy it.

Now I know some of you are thinking "but I have amazing friends from high school at home." Friends and friendships change after a year apart, so do not expect those friendships to be the exact same. That does not mean you are not still friends, it just means you should expect a change. They do not know what you are talking about when it comes to things at school. They have not met your new friends and they honestly probably just will not “get it.” Just realize this and be prepared.

Ultimately, your summer will revolve around expectations. Do not expect it to be perfect. Do not expect to spend all your days carefree. Do not expect to only and always have fun. Lower those expectations or even try to get rid of them. The best way to exceed your expectations of an amazing summer is to drop those expectations all together.