1. High school is free

This one is a no-brainer. Yes – there are students who have full rides to college and for them college is mostly free. For the rest of us, we are voluntarily putting ourselves into debt to go through four more years of schooling. It sounds almost crazy. High school only cost us lunch and maybe some money toward field trips here and there.

But, there is something extremely gratifying about paying your way in the world. Finally paying off all of this college debt I have will feel so rewarding someday.

2. Lunch breaks

I may not particularly miss lunch breaks from high school because I opted out of lunch anyways. However, the one year I did have a lunch was the perfect time to sit back and relax or catch up on that homework I did not feel like doing the night before. The food may have been awful but at least there was a break in the long school day to spend time with friends and eat.

In college, lunch is not usually a priority and there is not a set time for it. Unless lunch is planned with a friend, there is no guarantee that someone you know will be in the lunch room. But, there is a lot more freedom to not having a set lunch time or location. Lunch can be eaten at a café while doing homework, in the dining hall, or even in a dorm.

3. Doing homework in class

Speaking of doing homework during lunch, it was so nice to have study halls or classes that actually set aside time for homework. Or, there might have even been time to do homework every once in a while, during an easy class.

College classes are typically done at a faster pace and there are never study halls. Professors do not usually set aside time for homework.

In college, the best scenario is having a cancelled class. But, a college class schedule is a lot more lenient than high school. There is plenty of time for homework in between classes since there is longer than a four-minute break to get between classes. Sometimes a schedule may even work out that there is one or no classes in a day leaving plenty of time for homework.

4. Having more time for extracurricular activities

Collegiate sports are a bigger time commitment than high school varsity sports. And, while there seems to be more time in college, there are a lot more commitments in classes and to the extracurriculars we do. I found that I could not do as many extracurricular activities in college as I did in high school.

But, there are so many more opportunities in college. Even though there is less time, there are far more things to explore in your four years of college.

5. Having less responsibilities

High school was the time for living at home in comfort. It was nice to have parents helping out with taking care of the house and making dinners. They paid the bills for the house and sometimes gave us money for gas or other things throughout the year. Most college students are learning how to take care of themselves for the first time in their freshman year.

But, with responsibility comes a lot of freedom. Living own your own definitely has its perks.

6. Living at home

Yet, home is something I missed greatly in my first year of college. It is really weird to finish classes and return to a dorm each night without getting a chance to tell mom and dad all about my day. I miss coming home to a puppy and the bed I have slept in for years.

7. Days off and fun field trips

One of the best parts of high school was getting the day off for a field trip or spending a couple days at the end of the year doing very little work. In college, I have had the occasional conference or weekend trip, but very seldom have I had off for anything close to a field trip. And, professors teach to the very last class. In fact, the end of the year is typically very busy with finals approaching.

Schedules in college are more flexible, though. Depending on the classes you pick, a typical day could start as early as eight in the morning or classes could start in the late afternoon, evening hours. Who needs a day off when you have one or two classes some days in the week?