The first year of college can be extremely stressful. By the time mid-second semester rolls around, everyone has about had it with classes. Time is moving too fast, and you are moving too slow. If you are active on your campus, you’ll soon realize that not only do classes move in fast-forward, everything does towards the end of the school year.
At this point, you can’t wait to get home and relax. All you have to do is get through finals. You haven’t seen your family in a while, and since it’s your first year being away for this long, you may be feeling homesick. You start to get super excited about being home, so life can just take a chill pill for a bit, but stop right there! I promise, going home after your first year of college isn’t as great as you think it will be. At first, you'll be scrambling to meet up with everyone. You just have to catch up on everything you’ve missed in your family and friends' lives! However, soon you'll realize how different being home is even after being away for less than a year. I personally never believed adults when they said, “Just wait until next summer. Nothing will be the same.” Here are three realizations you’ll come to during your first summer home from college.
1. High school friends can’t compare.
After the first few weeks go by of mostly relaxing, hanging out with friends, and working, you will realize you’ve had enough of summer! High school friends were great at the time, but college friends create a new meaning to friendship. These are people you’ve lived with for almost a year. They know you on a whole new level. Your roommate, yeah, she knows you better than anyone at this point, especially your flaws. Word of advice: make nice with your roommate because she will have all the dirt in the world on you! You’ll still have the one or maybe two friends from high school you could never get rid of, but for the most part you will be able to deal without seeing the others for the duration of the summer.
2. Where you grew up is no longer your home.
Three or four weeks are as much of a breather from the hustle and bustle of college life that you’ll need. You’ll miss your new home— your real home. You’ll find yourself referring to your university as home. Maybe you’ll even see a small glimmer of sadness flash across your mom's face when you do. It’s at that moment you’ll realize college is now your life; it’s where you belong.
3. Your family is more important than you thought.
With your new realization of how unimportant high school was comes a new realization of how important your family is. Your family will always be there, but friends, they come and go. Being away at college also makes you appreciate your parents a lot more. Now you know why they get so frustrated when you just leave your dishes in the sink or “forget” to take the trash out! It’s annoying when your roommate does the same. Those siblings you couldn’t wait to get away from are now some of your favorite people. Siblings are best friends for life.
So, if you find yourself in a rush to go home by the end of your freshman year, just slow down and remember that, yes, college is stressful, but you’ll be begging to come back by mid-June.
