As I looked around my empty dorm room, with tears streaming down my face, I wondered how I was going to make it through three months living at home again. Don’t get me wrong, I was just as excited for summer as anyone, but I honestly felt like my college campus had become my new home, and I didn’t know how to readjust to living at home with my family again. But I decided I was going to try and make the best of it all, and try and enjoy my first few days of summer. I was excited to hang out with my friends from back home, and I was excited to start working out at my old gym. I kept telling myself that everything would just go back to being the exact same as it was when I left, but that was not the case. I found myself feeling distanced from my friends, even though I was spending a ton of time with them. I had a hard time learning to live at home with my parents again, because I all of a sudden I had to tell them where I was going, and abide by their rules. Even though my parents give me a large amount of freedom, I still found them hovering around me because they didn’t know how to readjust to me living at home again. However, after a few weeks, I have found myself comfortable again in my own home. Here are a few things that I did to help me readjust to being at home.
1. I started to unpack my things and sort through my stuff.
When I got back from college, I put off putting away my clothes and sorting through all the stuff that I had brought back from my dorm room. However, after I started to reorganize my old room, I started to feel a little better about living back home.
2. I spent a ton of quality time with my friends from home.
Even though I knew I was going to miss my friends from college, I was really excited to spend time with my friends from home. It was only after going on a few mini road trips up to Lake Michigan, that I realized just how much I had missed them. They are a huge part of my life, and I now know that when I come home from college that they are going to always be here wanting to spend time with me, and wanting to be a part of my life. Home immediately starts to feel like home again when you have great friends to come back to.
3. I went back to my comfort place.
One of the places that I have come to associate with home is my old gym. I have worked with the same coach since my sophomore year of high school, and I immediately felt better about being home after my first day of training. It also made me feel better about leaving college knowing that I was able to start training to prepare for next season.
4. I spent time with my family.
I know that my family has missed me a ton, and I have tried to spend some quality time with them. I especially felt better after spending time with my sister, because I know that she will always be part of my home life. I even volunteered to pick her up from school for the first few days so that I could spend some time with her.
5. I made myself get out and do stuff.
For the first few days of being home, I wanted to just sit around the house and think about how much I missed college. However, I knew that I needed to get out and do things to start to readjust. I went out with friends, I applied for a job, I went shopping, I cleaned, I went to workouts and practices, and I shuffled my sister around to her activities. I honestly readjusted a lot faster because of the constant activity.
Even though everything is not the same as it was when I moved out, I still have been able to readjust to living at home. I am actually extremely grateful that I get to spend this summer at home, because I get to spend time with the people I love and care about. I get to relax for a few months, and then I will be right back to my college campus and to my college home away from home.
