With school wrapping up for the summer break, the feeling we millennials dread the most is PACKING. So many boxes. So much cleaning. So little time after finals are done. Is it really that big of a deal, or are we fighting off the ultimate feeling of saying goodbye?

Moving out of our first apartment is actually a lot harder than we think. It’s not because we have so much crap that we never thought we owned, or having the 14+ hours walking back and forth, lifting, and placing. It is the fact that we are never going to come back to the place we called home for years. Our first apartment is what we took pride in, what we paid for by ourselves without help from parents, and what we stressed about getting the red letter of death for late fees. It is where we called home, where we could feel most comfortable.

Your first apartment was there during a bad breakup to welcome you with open arms. It was there when a final grade wasn’t satisfying and made you still feel successful, knowing that you are capable of providing a roof over your head. Let’s be real, when you started your first real job or your first try at an 18 credit hour schedule, nothing felt more beautiful than walking through that front door and laying on your couch or bed letting the stress of your day just be swept away. It is hard to let go and start over again.

It is nostalgic for the college graduate or the college senior who has to move on and make accommodations to promote success. I mean, it is what our parents wanted for us right? For us to learn what it is to stretch that dollar, and possibly finding a cheaper place to live or somewhere closer to work or school. For us, it is the cheaper portion we look for.

For some of us who don’t really care about what the materialistic feels of saying goodbye are, we are actually scared of the next step we have to take. Like pulling out a mortgage on a house, moving to different cities, graduating or even moving in with a significant other ready to take the next step. Nothing is scarier than leaving behind a life we have become so accustomed to, ready to embark on our new journey.

The last of the millennials might have just moved out of the freshman dorms, or finished your last year of high school. This time will come, and it is worse than moving away from home for the first time. This place will be your new home away from home. When the time comes for you to move on, and be successful in whatever you do in life, you will understand. There is no monetary value on the experience of living on your own for the first time. There is definitely no value on the feeling you will get when you lock up your house for the last time.

Always hold on to the good times in your first home, but look forward to the future that is waiting outside the front door.