When Spring Break comes around, everyone is excitedly talking about their plans to go to a warm, sunny place with their friends, spending all day at the beach relaxing. Many students don’t even consider the thought of going home, because they cannot stand being in the cold for one more day. Or maybe they can’t stand the thought of spending a week with their parents instead of their college friends, which is understandable. Then there are some of us who do go home for spring break, and don’t plan a massive trip with our friends. Luckily, I'm from Florida so it’s not so painful to make the trip home, but I still didn’t spend many days soaking up the sun on the beach. When you go home, I've found that you inevitably go through certain stages when you spend a lot of time with your family and return to your city of origin.
1. Extreme excitement
When you board the plane it hits you that you are finally going home after eight long weeks of being away. You realize that you will get to be in your own room, and get to see your pets as well as your family. You will also get to see some of your high school friends, visit all of your favorite places around town, and eat home cooked meals.
2. Overwhelming happiness and comfort
When you finally get home, you are so glad to be in your hometown and to be able to hang out in your house again. You settle back into your old routines, and you begin to get used to the constant attention from your family. When you see some of your high school friends it feels like you never left, and you are so ecstatic it’s unreal.
3. No cares in the world
School and any other important responsibilities have slipped your mind at this point. All you know is that you have a week to do whatever you want and that studying that you should be doing seems very unimportant at the moment. Midterms really strung you out and you don't want to start thinking the remainder of the semester.
4. Slight jealousy
It’s about the point in the week when your friends who are vacationing together start making Instagram posts and posting insanely long Snapchat stories. Even though you are incredibly happy to be home, you can’t feel like you’re missing out just a little bit.
5. Occasional boredom
Some of your high school friends may have left, and you get a little tired of doing nothing. Your family is getting a little bit too close for comfort at times, and you really feel like getting out. Even Netflix seems to be getting a little old, and you start pondering all the things you could be doing to take advantage of being home.
6. Minor panic
As the week nears the end, you suddenly realize that you haven’t done as much as you wanted to, and there isn’t enough time. You forgot to visit a favorite place of yours, or you didn’t look around enough for your summer job. Then you start to remember how much school work you have to do by Monday that you failed to start.
7. Overbearing nostalgia
The last few days at home you look at every darn thing and it produces a memory. Even a street sign when you’re driving triggers a random thought, and you realize how much you’ll miss home. You wonder why you ever left, and you constantly look around at your surroundings, trying to ingrain it into your brain. You know you won’t be back for another eight weeks and it starts to become real. You know you'll return in the summer, but it's hard not to be upset over leaving home once again.
