We all know college is one of the best times of our lives and a major step in growing up. College life offers the freedom, autonomy and responsibility that most young people have been craving for their entire teenage years. However, one of the most important lessons we learn in college is how much we actually appreciate (and kind of missed) the comfort of the place we grew up.
1. Seeing your hometown
As much as I love my Bentley campus, it just doesn't compare to living in my hometown. Whenever I come home for the summer, or even just for a short break, one thing I almost always do is cruise up and down the streets, hit all of my favorite spots in town, and just check everything out just for the comfort of knowing it's all right where I left it.
2. Being with family
As awesome as our friends at school are, they just don't measure up to the family you grew up with. It's a process that takes the entirety of your childhood life to build the relationship that we have with these people, one that just can't be replicated within the far-too-short time we spend in college.
3. Visiting your friends from home
It's been a long semester that you and your high school buddies all spent on different campuses, and now it's time to relive the good ol' days, share some nostalgic memories, and tell the stories from the past semester that you maybe couldn't share with Mom and Dad.
4. The food
Nothing makes you appreciate the food at home quite like an entire year of eating nothing but dining hall food, top ramen and Chipotle. Between Mom's home cooking and visiting all of your favorite restaurants that you missed so much, nothing can ever compare to the good eats at home.
5. Not being broke
It sounds weird to say that I actually enjoy coming home from school to start working again...actually it sounds like my inner child dying a little while I grow up to become a working stiff. But seriously, it feels like it's nearly impossible to have any fun money leftover after paying my everyday expenses and the highway robbery that is the campus bookstore. So when I come home and suddenly everything doesn't cost me an arm and a leg, and I finally have time to work a little bit, I just can't help but ball out Wolf of Wall Street style and make it rain fun coupons all over the local yacht club.
6. The best part: It's Summertime!
That's right, it's summertime and the living's easy. We're talking about warm weather, beach days, pool parties, fishing trips, country music and fruity drinks with little umbrellas in them. How can you not love four carefree months of being free to live life like a little kid again? Here's to a summer well spent at home.
