If your school is anything like mine, it isn’t often that you get to take some time off and go home to relax. Essentially, Rutgers offers all the mandated breaks like Thanksgiving, winter break, spring, and summer. Fall breaks and time off for Easter don’t exist here, so we make sure to cherish moments offered to get away from all the stress of school and the back to back essays, exams and homework.

Despite the fact that I currently commute to college, my freshman year dorming experience at a different school granted me the “going away for college” experience and offered me a greater appreciation the resources I have every day.

Here are five things that college students miss the most when they're away from home.

1. Family

During my time away from home, there was nothing I missed more than the feeling of being with family. Growing up with fairly strict parents, I was definitely one of those kids who itched to get away from home and begin a new life where I wouldn’t have my parents around laying out the rules. In college, you find yourself calling your mom for the smallest things, like to see how her day is going because you miss her comfort.

2. Food

I cannot stress this point enough. I think I can speak for college students nationwide when I say that dining hall food is the worst. While some were having a hard time managing their meals on their own and gaining the freshman fifteen, I was rapidly losing weight because of how much I hated dining hall food. Perhaps it wouldn’t have been so bad if I wasn’t a vegetarian. I found that my options were slim and tasted nothing like my mother's cooking. When you come back home for break, be thankful for those homemade meals. Processed college food just can’t replace it.

3. Home friends

When you go off to college, you definitely find your niche. You even befriend those who have the potential of becoming long-term friends. It’s nice, however, to come home once in a while and regroup with the people you grew up with. No one understands your inside jokes and childhood experiences like those you made memories with.

4. Your own room

Fortunately, I have the luxury of coming home every day to my own room, and I don’t take that for granted. Remembering what it was like to share a small room with two other girls makes me wonder how I ever managed with zero privacy. Don’t get me wrong. I love talking and socializing, but I also love having my own space for when I want to be alone and binge watch Netflix without judgment.

5. Being familiar with your surroundings

For some reason, during my time away at my previous school, what I may have missed the most was simply knowing where everything was. I felt frustrated with these new surroundings at a school where I felt everyone knew each other and grew up in the general area. Nothing is as comforting than walking through the town you grew up in and seeing familiar faces and the places that hold your dearest memories.