Coming home from college after a semester is quite the relief... or at least that’s what we think it is compared to finals week hell. Finals consist of 24/7 studying, terrible eating habits, and overall stress that could cause you to lose your teeth. So coming home to your family and your nice comfy couch sounds perfectly ideal. Why wouldn‘t it? However, while you’re actually home, there are plenty of things that go through your head.
The first glimpse of your parents. Getting off the plane (if you’re an out of state student) and the stress of trying to coordinate the perfect airport pick up is worth it all when you see your parents’ car pull up for the first time. Then you hop in the car and get bombarded with questions. “So how was your flight… not, 'Wait, how was your semester - not like we talked a million other times before this?'”
Next but certainly not least, that first home-cooked meal. That’s honestly my favorite part about going home, being able to choose all the meals for the week. For me, my favorite breaded chicken cutlets and my go-to Japanese restaurant that I crave all semester are first up to bat when my parents ask, “Where do you want to go for dinner?” Don’t even get me started on coming back to New York and having my first bagel. It's a heavenly experience. Everyone has their go-to home meals that they wish they can have while hungry in their rooms at school and sick of fast food.
Life seems all well and good as the end of that first week approaches. You went to all your favorite restaurants, seen your family and friends etc. However, no one really talks about your feelings once you get settled in and the “newness” of you being home fades.
Don’t get me wrong - being home is far better than enduring the stress of finals week, but it isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. Firstly, sleeping in starts to become less and less accepted by your parents. They let it slide at first because they know how tired you are coming home from a rough semester and lack of sleep the week before, but after a week they start to give you chores and errands to run so sleeping too long is no longer allowed. Those errands usually involve you resorting back to your high school chauffeur days.
Finally, as you lay on your couch for the fifth day in a row finishing the second season of your new show, you realize that you are truly and utterly bored. You may have dreamt about sitting on your couch at home with nothing to do all semester... but when it finally happens, it only feels good for a little while until boredom strikes. At this point you wander aimlessly around the house, going through your old things, and even asking for errands just to not sit on the couch anymore.
Yes, being home is amazing, but eventually you start to miss your best friend being in the room next door and having something to do every night within walking distance. I am a firm believer in doing nothing, but even I believe that nothing all the time it is just way too much.
