Every May, thousands of students cease their education for the summer and rush home with just enough sanity left after taking finals. But what happens when these caffeine-addicted, pizza-consuming pseudo-adults come home? The bubble of college is gone and most students saunter their way back to their respected hometowns with cars filled to the brim with memories, furniture, and relief in the fact that finals are over and you don't have to think about school for another couple months (unless you decide to take summer classes, in which you don't have to think about school for about two weeks, maybe). College is a mystical place where there is always someone awake at 3 A.M. and pizzas are up for delivery just as late. But a sleepy, suburban hometown doesn't normally have the comforts of a Dunkin' Donuts within a five-minute walking distance and a place that is designed specifically to deliver you cookies in the dead of night. So what does one do when they come home?
Curfew? What curfew?
One of the first things that was established when I came home was that I had a curfew to abide by. Not having a curfew for 9 months made actually having one sound like a foreign language. You mean I really have to be inside by a certain time? Considering on the weekends, most people don't leave their dorms until 11 P.M or midnight, this set up is just not ideal.
It's not healthy to go to sleep until 4 A.M? Really?
My roommate and I notoriously were up late, whether it was doing work or watching Netflix. The same sleep pattern seemed to follow me back home. You don't go to sleep until 4 in the morning and then you don't wake up until noon. According to some people, this is not necessarily the most healthy of sleeping patterns, but it got you through 18 credit hours and a couple shows on Netflix, so it can't all be bad.
Bonus points if you run into your parents in the hallway when they are leaving for work and you didn't fall asleep yet.
Pizza isn't on the food pyramid? Are we sure?
Apparently, eating pizza every day is frowned upon in this establishment called "real life." It's not "adult-like" or "healthy" to consume greasy carbs on the daily. This just proves that some people are out to ruin your personal happiness and you need to stay as far away from them as possible. And besides, nothing tastes better than pizza at 3 A.M.
Friends, where art thou?
College is wonderful because you tend to live a couple doors down from your best friends. But then the summer hits and you are left with your friends scattered across the state, or at some bigger universities, across the country. They are not easily accessible when you need to freak out about something or if your song comes on shuffle or if your favorite show to watch together came out with another season on Netflix. (To my college friends: Hi I miss you and we are having a dance party when I see you)
What do you mean you don't accept my meal plan?
After spending two semesters and half of my allotted meal plan "dollars" at Dunkin' Donuts on campus, it is disheartening to come back home and know that I need to use real people money when I purchase my bagel and cookie dough flavored iced coffee. Outside your college bubble of campus dining, you don't want to pull out your debit card or cash to pay for anything. It's just not convenient and annoying. Besides, who even knows how much is left on the debit card anyway?
HA HA (the sound my bank account makes when I try to do something fun)
You can take the girl out of college but you can't take the college out of the girl. You try to fatten your bank account enough so that you aren't living a ramen noodle diet during the school year, but, of course, your friends and food tastes keep telling you something different. The summer is a time to regroup, mentally, physically, and, most importantly, financially, but all your saving can come to an end if you go to Chipotle enough times or try to plan a trip.
Come August, the college kids are itching to get back into their natural habitat, with meal plans and friends right next door. We had our little break in the cold, cruel world, but now it is time to get back to eating an entire bag of Doritos in replacement of a meal and staying up until 4 A.M. Very soon, we will be back in our college bubbles where everything makes sense and the rules of real life don't apply.
