Seeing Your Friends and Family

No matter how ready your parents are to have you go away to college, trust me when I say that they look forward to having you back. Having their child away from home for months has been a big change for them. If you have younger siblings, they will more than likely want to see you too. Obviously, parents weekend is a thing, but nothing beats coming home for a few nights. The first time I came home was Thanksgiving, and when my father and I walked through the door, we were greeted by my mother and my sister jumping with excitement. Since it was a holiday weekend, I was able to see extended family for the first time in months.

Furthermore, you always look forward to seeing people you knew growing up. Reconnecting with neighbors and friends is always a good feeling. Not to mention, everyone wants to hear about your life up at school. This is the time where you get to be the center of attention.

Your Own Bedroom

Living in a dorm has its ups and downs, but one thing is for sure: there's nothing quite like going home and sleeping in your own bed. It may not seem like a huge difference but think about it like this: you've spent months sleeping in an uncomfortable bunk bed in a small, cramped, double/triple room. Do you think this is something you'll miss when you go home? Likely not, so savor the time home while you can. My parents had even made my bed and cleaned the space up for my arrival. Even if you share a bedroom with a sibling, at least you're sharing with someone you've known for a large part of your life. You're likely accustomed to the routine of everyone in the house.

There is also something to be said about bathrooms. Not having to walk down a frigidly cold hallway to get to the communal restroom is a pleasant change. After 2.5 months of communal bathrooms, it's nice to be able to take a shower while knowing that there will be NOBODY coming into the room while you're there. As for most of the things on this list, it is for a short period of time, but it makes all the difference.

Homemade Food

This might be my favorite thing about going home. Think about it, you've been living off of dining hall food and Ramen Noodles for months on end. One of the best feelings is to come home to the hot, home-cooked meals you've known since childhood. At URI, the dining hall food isn't the worst, but eating the same things every week can get relatively boring.

Many parents will try to cook their kids' favorite meals when they come home. I'll tell you one thing, nothing really beats spaghetti with homemade sauce and meatballs in the middle of January.

Free Laundry

When I came home for Thanksgiving, I packed all the clothes/washables I could into my two duffel bags so I could take advantage of the laundry at my house. In the dorms, it cost $1.50 just to wash and one load of laundry in cold water and $1.25 to dry them for 50 minutes. If you wanted warmer water, more time, or to do a second load, it obviously cost more. By the first time I went home, I'd resorted to shoving what I could into one load and doing the cheapest/shortest option. Not the best, but nothing bad happened. When I got home, I was beyond grateful to have the time (and no fee) to do as much laundry I wanted.

Time For Yourself

During Winter and Summer Breaks, you have a month or more to relax, see friends, not worry about finals (yay) and do what you want. Even for shorter breaks, you have time to just do you. Many professors will try to wrap things up before Thanksgiving and Spring Break with a test or project, partly because they don't want to think about grading those assignments any more than you want to think about doing them.