It's that time of year again…

Summer is winding down. The days are getting shorter as the sun sinks below the horizon earlier and earlier. Cars are being stuffed to their capacity with the necessary college essentials as students and their families travel from all across the nation to their final destination: college. After a long and exhausting unpacking process, a quick meal at your downtown Chipotle or even your dining hall, one obvious point in the conversation is avoided altogether: your parents are about to leave.

I’m going into my third year at Syracuse University, and every time my parents climb in the car and head in the reverse direction back home, I still never fail to break my smile and shed a tear once they have gone. I’m 20 years old, so it’s not like I haven’t gone through this before, but after every summer comes to an end, I learn to appreciate my parents just a little bit more, making it just that much harder to say goodbye.

1. Adulthood is here.

Yeah that’s right, I said it. We're getting older guys and gals. You're an adult and life's responsibilities are now yours. When’s dinner going to be ready? Who is going to take out the trash tonight? How am I going to have clean clothes to wear? Get off that cloud quickly, my friends, because this year is about to accelerate into fast mode, and mom and dad won’t be there for you to cook, clean, or take out your stinky garbage.

2. Am I going to starve?

There’s something so comforting about a home cooked meal from mom or dad. You know they took time after their busy work days to cook a meal for us, even if we just sat around all summer day watching Netflix and burning daylight. Meals are on us now, and whether that means heading to Ernie Davis for as close to “home-cooked” as I can get, or spend another night waiting in line at Chipotle down on Marshall Street, it certainly is not the same as eating meals at home.

3. Toilet Paper is EXPENSIVE.

At home, I feel like I use toilet paper for recreation. More than the obvious everyday use plus taking off my makeup or blowing my nose, I can use t. p. as napkins for my dinner, or a pillow for myself. But when you go back to school and sacrifice two-ply for one-ply and YOU are in charge of buying it? It’s either one tiny square or you’ll be broke within a week. (Sorry, mom, I used a lot of toilet paper.)

4. You’re missing out on talking to not only a parent, but your friend.

Life gets busy when school starts. You’re in class all day, have to find time to squeeze in a few meals here and there, go to the gym, stick your head in a book at Bird Library, run to your job, make more time for laundry, and then the rest of your life is devoted to homework. When do you have time to call mom and dad? You wish you could tell them what happened last week in class, or what you’re doing for fun in the upcoming weekend. Those five minute phone calls will fit somewhere…

5. It’s not the same if you’re not sleeping at home.

There’s something magical about sleeping in your own bed at home. Maybe it’s that you feel safe with mom and dad down the hall. Maybe you’re bed is too comfy. Whatever it is, mom and dad are there to inadvertently wake you at 6 a.m. when they're scurrying around the kitchen and heading out the door for another day where they’re working hard to make our lives so much better.

So yes, I’m 20 years old and cried ONCE AGAIN when my parents left me here at ‘Cuse last weekend. I miss them already, and I know you do too. Find those five minutes and call mom and dad. You won’t have to do it for another two weeks after. And when you think that when next year rolls around and it'll be easier this time... think again!