As acceptance letters are rolling in and you and your friends are starting to lock down your plans for next year, it can be hard not to get caught up in the rush to get to college! While planning for college is certainly an exciting time, it’s important to step back and enjoy your last few months of high school.
College will be an amazing experience, but there are definitely some things you’ll miss about high school – so try not to take them for granted!
1. A home-cooked meal
Tons of colleges have great dining facilities, and it is exciting to have the freedom of choice when it comes to your meals (watch out for the freshman 15!), but as time goes on, you’ll miss your mother’s cooking every once in a while. When it comes to food, you’ll live for the holidays and the weekends you can head home to your familiar family dinners. Dining hall food can be tasty, but it’s nothing like a home cooked meal.
“My mother is the best cook (she was a caterer for a while), so giving up her food was definitely rough!” says Iris Goldsztajn, a senior at UCLA. “Thankfully the dining hall food at UCLA is amazing, but still, it was nowhere near my mum’s. Now that I live in an apartment, I try to replicate her food, but I am always so excited to go home and have her homemade pizza or Sunday lunch!” It’s okay to look forward to those french fries and pizza lunches, but you’ll probably miss some good home cooking every once in a while.
2. Sports
While many high school athletes could choose to join their college team, some decide to opt out and spend their time enjoying other aspects of college life. If you’re not participating in a sport next year, chances are you might miss those daily practices, team bonding sessions and competitive games.
Donna Amore, a student at the University of Scranton, opted out of her school’s dance team because her academic and work responsibilities didn’t allot her enough time. “Even though I sometimes dreaded [dance] practices because they were six days a week and every week, I’d do anything to be stranded dancing for that long again,” she says. “Take advantage of the enjoyment [you] receive from [your] own extracurricular activities because in college, [you] might not have time!” If you’re not going to pursue sports in college, make sure you’re still enjoying them while you have them in high school.
3. Free time
Speaking of time – it can be hard to come by in college. It certainly depends on your workload, classes and extracurricular responsibilities, but chances are you’ll be a lot busier at college than you have been in the past. Take advantage of the free time you have in high school while you’ve still got it!
4. Family time
Though you might be sick of your mom’s hovering and your dad’s cheesy jokes, you’re probably going to miss your family when you’re away at college. Depending on where you go to college, you might be 30 minutes or seven hours from your family. Either way, you’re probably going to be further from them than you were in high school, so now’s your chance to take advantage of the time you have with them!
“I wish I’d valued the time and opportunities I had with [my family] more because you just don’t get that once you move away to school,” says Katie Jordan, a senior at Bentley University. Chances are, you’ll be spending a lot more time away from your family in college, so make the most of the time you have with them now.
5. Teachers
College professors can be excellent instructors and mentors, but they’re very different from the teachers you’ve had in the past. High school teachers spend their full workweek at school working with their students, and college professors have a different relationship with their jobs. They’ll often teach various classes with hundreds of students, and some professors even have another full-time job and teach on the side. The nature of teaching varies between high school and college, so your relationships with professors will probably be different as well.
“Enjoy the extra help that your teachers give you!” says Jacqueline Cirello, a junior at Pace University. “College professors only have their office hours which are mostly by appointments, [and] some teachers don’t even have office hours! So, ask them questions and go to the extra helps because once you’re in college, it’s very hard to get that one on one time!”
Take advantage of those meaningful relationships you’ve been able to establish with your teachers over the past four years – you might not have the same relationships in the future!
6. Laundry
You might not have given much thought to laundry in the past – but trust us, you will in the future. Laundry facilities vary from college to college and dorm to dorm, but it’s likely that you won’t have a fully functional washer and dryer next to your bedroom – and you won’t have your parents to help you out, either! When you’re struggling with carrying your laundry up a few flights of stairs and fiddling with quarters, you’ll miss doing laundry at home!
“Having your laundry done for you in high school is the best,” says Rachel Petty, a junior at James Madison University, “Laundry in college can get annoying between the limited supply of machines, crappy dryers and lugging it up and down the stairs depending on your living situation!”
Don’t take advantage of your easy laundry situation now; you’ll be missing it later!
7. Having your own room
Having a roommate can be tons of fun – think slumber parties every night, sharing clothes and doing homework together. Roommate bonding can be a big part of your college experience – but it’s not always fun and games. There will be times where you’ll be wishing for your own space. Make sure you don’t take your quiet, clean bedroom of your own for granted!
8. Showering barefoot
When it comes to communal bathrooms, you don’t know what’s been in there – so say goodbye to barefoot showering! When you’re doing your college shopping, make sure to put a pair of shower flip-flops on your checklist.
“Showering barefoot is a luxury you don’t realize you have until you don’t anymore,” says Rachel. “I always looked forward to going home and not having to wear flip-flops in the shower.” Slipping on a pair of sandals doesn’t sound that bad, but trust us when we say your shower at home will be a thousand times better after using that communal bathroom!
9. Sleep
You might feel sleep deprived now, but you just wait! When balancing homework, extracurriculars, internships, part-time jobs and everything else on your plate, sleep might take the back seat. You’re bound to miss your beauty rest, so get it while you can!
“My freshman year of college, I hardly went to bed before 1 a.m.,” says Victoria Kanaris, a senior at Emerson College. “I also discovered the amazing concept that is napping.” Sleep is often hard to come by in college, so plan accordingly!
College is an experience like no other, so it’s understandable that some students are rushing to get started! But there are some aspects of your life at home and in high school that you won’t get in college. Make sure to enjoy the best parts of high school while you still can!