Extended breaks. Birthday parties. Holidays. Whatever the reason for going home, we all go home eventually; and when we do, we are usually bombarded with a barrage of questions. After all, not all of us are well known for keeping in touch while we are at school (...guilty as charged), so our families are just trying to get caught up to speed with what we are doing. It's only fair...

Listed below are a few of those questions we all know too well...and may or may not have encountered more than we can count on two hands...

1. How is school going?

...probably the most general question you can get, and if the conversation stops here, you can consider yourself a lucky man/woman. But, we've all heard it before, and truth be told, this question is relatively tame.

2. What classes are you taking this semester?

Another tame question...at first glance... But, this question in particular acts as a segue into the hard hitting questions--the questions that make our palms sweaty and speech st-st-stuttered. Aaaand the first question in that category...

3. What are your grades like?

If your family is anything like mine, they don't like to dwell on easy questions for long... Even if you're doing well in courses, this remains an uneasy and uncomfortable one to answer. "I'm doing well" never seems like a sufficient response and is usually met by a follow-up question such as...

4. What are you majoring in, again?

Personally, this is my favorite question. It's almost like your college major defines who you are, and as you respond, you either hear loud exaltations as if you just won a Nobel Prize for discovering the cure for cancer or sighs of disapproval. My condolences go out to all the undecided's out there... Logically, the domino effect brings forth the next one, which is...

5. What do you want to do after you graduate?

Considering you are most likely spending exorbitant amounts of money on tuition (and/or Sheetz/Wawa, Moe's/Chipotle, and Starbucks/Dunkin'), you probably do want to go somewhere when you finally walk across stage and into the real world. However, sometimes this isn't a particularly easy question to answer for whatever reason that may be. Perhaps, you're concerned that you'll be judged for your decision, or perhaps, you have no idea. But, your answer usually leads to...

6. Do you have anything lined up for the summer?

I usually choose to take a political approach to this response and say something along the lines of "I've been looking around, but nothing seems to catch my eye". Truth be told, I'm a busy individual and have probably bitten off far more than I can chew, so finding a summer job/internship isn't as easy as it could be... However, I am an extremely disrespectful person in this regard. Your families would most likely do anything in their power to help you, so the least you can do is find something that pays well enough that you can help out with tuition, which never seems to stop getting higher, and is in the realm of what you want to do for the rest of your life (I'm getting there, mom...I promise).

7. Have you filled out any scholarship applications?

Again, I'm busy, but also again, I'm extremely disrespectful because I have not (see above reasoning). I'm getting there...I promise. Free time is hard to come by.

8. What were you doing last weekend that you couldn't come home?

When I respond with "I was preparing for two exams and writing a paper", I do not secretly mean "I was getting white-girl wasted". I most likely was preparing for two exams and writing a paper. Do you really think I would rather stay here, where I have to live off of assembly line food and single-ply toilet paper?

9. Are you dating anyone?

There never really is a clean transition to this question, and it pops into conversation at random points... If you answer "yes", you're hit with the counter question regarding when and where they will meet this person. If you answer "no", they ask you why you don't and if you're planning on settling down any time soon. Deep breaths...It'll be okay.

10. When will you be home again?

...probably the next break, where this will all happen again. I find it rather deplorable that I'm not home more often; after all, my collegiate institution is only 45 minutes away from home. But, I promise there's a logical reason behind it. When I'm at home, all I want to do is relax and watch television--two things for which I never have time. So, during the academic year, it's difficult. I don't want to get behind, and I don't want my grades to suffer because of it. Just because I'm not home all that often doesn't mean I love my family any less. In fact, I love them more because they understand that I'm busy and have important obligations here...

...which leads into my overarching point.

Don't dodge these questions, and don't answer in lies. 1) Your family will know you are lying, and 2) your family deserves nothing but the truth after what they have done for you. Regardless of how uncomfortable you get or how attacked you may feel, they love you and are only worried about their "baby". Show them the respect they deserve, and own up to the decisions you've made and the situations you're in in your life. They will still support you no matter what.

To my family whom I know will read this article, I love you, guys. I'll see you very soon, ready to answer any and all of your questions.