No matter how far you move away for college, it's always a difficult thing to pack up your childhood bedroom and move away to a completely new place. It's hard, you go to a new school with new people you don't know and you're expected to adjust easily, and sometimes it's hard to do that when you're not used to change.
You're going to miss your family. No one admits it, but moving away from your family and learning to adjust without your mom yelling at you to do your laundry or your dad reminding you to change the oil in your car, is hard. So call them. Call them every day, call them five times a day just to tell them what you had for lunch in the dining hall or how you saw a dog on campus, or to just talk about how much you love being in college. Call them to thank them for helping you out with college, they'll appreciate it more than you know. Call your grandparents to tell them how your classes are going and to ask how their day was because they miss you more than you can imagine. Talk to your siblings. Text them to ask how their classes are going and see how they're adjusting without you. When you do go home, spend time with your family. Go see the family that doesn't get to see you very often, go out to eat with your parents, go grab ice cream with your brother, or go shopping with your sister, even if it's the last thing you want to do.
Your highschool best friends miss you. This part was definitely the hardest for me. I had the same best friends through middle school and high school and we always constantly texted or facetimed but now we're all too busy with our own lives to talk every day. But don't get mad at them for not talking to you every day. They have new friends, they have class, and they're trying to adjust to a new life just like you are. You won't talk all the time, you might not even talk to them for weeks at a time but when you do, it's like you never stopped talking. Still, text them to make sure they're doing okay.
Your pets don't understand why you left them for so long. For me, I get to go home about three times a semester, and every time I do, my dog is so excited to see me. They won't be there forever, so take advantage of the small amount of time you have with them because you're their whole world. If you do get the chance to go home and see them, take them to the park, or just let them ride around with you while you run errands, they'll appreciate the time they have with you.
When you do go home, go see your old high school teachers and thank them for halfway preparing you for your first hard college class, because they're part of the reason you got into your dream school. Drive through your old hometown and go to all the spots you and your friends used to hang out at until 3 am because those moments at your small town Sonic or Whataburger with your best friends are the memories you'll want to hold onto for forever. Go to your high school sports games, It's not lame. You grew up under those Friday night lights.
People miss you, and it's okay to miss them. It's okay to get homesick. It's okay to call your best friend crying because you miss those late nights laughs. It's okay to call your mom to tell her you failed the first exam that you studied really hard for, and it's definitely okay to talk to someone about how you're struggling to adjust to your new life.
