College gives us, as young men and women, the chance to be semi-independent while having a support system and financial support. With this new found independence, we form our own kind of lifestyle which we grow accustomed to in those nine months away from home. Once those nine months are up, however, we have to say good-bye to our normal day-to-day life and move back home for summer vacation.
First big adjustment is having to re-conform to the rules of the house. While this doesn't mean you have to adhere to a strict schedule like what was required of you in high school. It does mean your house falls asleep at 10 p.m., even if that's when your night is just beginning.
You also have to say goodbye to friends you may not see until the start of the fall semester. Some of your friends may be only a few hours away and you can occasionally visit. For some, you may have a vacation trip planned for later on in the summer, which you are waiting in anticipation, for that day to arrive. But even with all these planned meetings its still hard not to be able to wake up in the morning knowing you are going to see your best friend in class or that one friend that makes you laugh every day.
Going back to work or starting an internship can be a rough transition. It's one thing to get your butt out of bed every day to get to that one early morning class in your leggings and a t-shirt. It's an entirely different matter when you have to be at work in the morning looking respectable. This means you have to wake-up early enough to brush your hair, put on make-up so you don't look like something out of "The Walking Dead," and find something business casual to wear.
Now these things can really put a damper on moving out and make coming home hard, but there are some bright spots in coming home.
For one, the food gets substantially better. It truly is the best feeling when you come home and you get a home-cooked meal, and not something that came from a cafeteria that offers you disappointment and plenty of dessert to help put on the infamous freshman fifteen (or, in my case the sophomore fifteen).
NO CLASSES OR EXAMS FOR THE WHOLE VACATION!!!!!
And one of my favorite parts of coming home is seeing those friends that don't go to your college that you haven't seen in months. Being able to get together with them and talk about what an amazing year you had, trading crazy stories, and talking about that one class that nearly killed you.
