When you are away at college, you feel like life is flying by. Every week tests and papers due at midnight merges into another week of tests and papers due at midnight. So often we spend our time on homework and thinking that we are just so stressed that we forget everything else that is going on around us. You see you have five missed calls and a voicemail from your grandparents and you just don’t have the time to talk. The last thing you feel like doing is trying to explain why exactly your professor is a jerk, why you can’t eat anymore Chik-fil-A, or why that girl totally pissed you off because your grandparents have no idea what you are talking about. Your life here at college is a total mystery, for the most part, to your grandparents. They want desperately to understand what that Blackboard thing is, but who has the time to explain the Internet (again) to a 70 or 80-year-old? Well actually, you do.
Whomever it is that bombards you with missed calls, take the time to call them back. It will not only relieve stress for you, but also make that person’s entire day. For me, it’s my grandma who is desperately and adorably trying to understand what life is like for a 21st century college undergrad student. She recently bought an iPad and is even teaching herself to text! While the constant phone calls asking about how to use the iPad isn’t my favorite part of the day, I know it’s probably hers. I find myself coming home every so often to realize that my parents and grandparents lives are moving just as fast as mine. Did my dad really have that much gray hair in his beard before I left? Did my nana always use a cane to walk? Now I’m definitely not trying to guilt trick you readers into going home, but I am trying to send a wakeup call. Don’t spend your college years trying to forget and ignore you have a family, but embrace them as the support system that you know they truly are.
If you are lucky enough to have family members who unconditionally love you, terribly miss you, and always support you, then the absolute least they deserve is a phone call. They deserve a meaningful conversation (or even a visit home!) and to be appreciated for who and what they are. It might be easier to not explain the grading scale or why parking on campus is such a pain, but do it anyway. I know that grandma can make a simple 10-minute conversation into an hour-long explanation, but you should do it and do it without complaining. Show your grandma your Instagram pictures; don’t delete your mom’s embarrassing comments on your Facebook photos. Make sure not to take your time with your family for granted, because every second is precious and fleeting. You’ll be wishing you had when your four years here are done. A small gesture can make your biological family feel like a part of this college experience and the WKU family you’ve created.
