By this time, the school year is closing out and summer is finally here! So many changes come along with this season, especially with college students. Internships, summer jobs, and moving back home are just some of the many possible happenings for a college student. Moving away from your best friends is hard. Especially when you live in different states. These are just some of the many struggles college students face when leaving for the summer.
You run out of shows on Netflix
With all of this free time on your hands, Netflix marathons are inevitable. But when you’ve already watched Friends all the way through 3 times and have repeatedly watched Gossip Girl, Psych, Pretty Little Liars, and the classic One Tree Hill a million times over, there is practically nothing left. What are you supposed to do with yourself?!
You no longer have easy access to a gym
After being spoiled with a free membership to a fully-facilitated gym on campus that is just a walk away, it is so difficult to continue being diligent with keeping your fitness routine up! Having access to a gym is something I really take for granted. I have really enjoying taking advantage of my on-campus gym, so I’m really going to miss having it just a walk away.
Your wardrobe decreases immensely
If you are anything like my roommate and me, then you share everything. And I mean everything, including your wardrobe. This is such a blessing because your choices for outfits is pretty much doubled, except when you have to leave each other. Sometimes, my roommate and I will forget whose shoes are whose!
You actually have to make plans to see your friends
Now that you aren’t living in the same building as each other, you can’t just walk to upstairs to your friend’s room for an impromptu sleepover. You can’t just text your friends to meet up for lunch or to have a stress-relieving jam session. It’s sad to think that you and the people you have lived and grown with won’t be a short walk away through the student union. You have to intentionally make plans to see your friends that live in different states or even just different cities!
You have to be away from your campus community
Because I go to a private Christian college, community is such an important aspect of my college life. Having that intimate setting of people is such a comforting place to live in, especially when they are believers. Plus, there are so many opportunities to grow together as a community. For example, chapels, workdays, late-night breakfasts, student-directed shows, and many other campus events. It’s so hard to leave this atmosphere behind!
Your roommate is no longer a few steps away when you need them
This might be the very hardest one. When you come to college, you expect your roommate to become your best friend. In reality, they become so much more than that. They become your counselor. They become your sibling. They become your mom. They become your biggest fan. When you walk through a year or more of your life with someone and are inseparable, it’s hard to live without them. Even though it’s just temporary! We laugh together, cry together, hurt together, rejoice together, pray together, worry together, grow together, work together, and live life together. Saying goodbye for a full 3 months is inevitably going to be an emotional fiasco.
My heart sinks a little bit knowing that all of these will soon be a reality. Driving away from my freshman dorm where so many memories were made, driving away from my new-found best friends, and driving away from the life I have learned to live on my own. Summer is hard but knowing that I'll return in August makes it almost bearable.
