Whether you move into residence, your own house with friends, or a small one-bedroom apartment, one thing remains the same: you are now completely parent free. It will be one of the craziest things you’ve ever done, one of the most independent, and one of the biggest and best steps you might ever take as a young adult. Here’s why:
1. Freedom:
Living at home with your parents is great. They pay the bills, they drive you to doctor’s appointments, and they supply the toilet paper… but they can be a little overbearing sometimes. Once you’ve moved out, you’re free to do what you want, when you want, with who you want; without having to worry about making a curfew, or relying that night’s plans to your mom step by step. You’re free to stay up until four in the morning, and sleep until two in the afternoon without any judgemental looks from your parents (we’ve all gotten them). You can do whatever you want now!
2. Food:
Your parents bought the groceries, and that was great. Except, when they bought your sister’s cereal but not yours, and you were stuck eating fruit loops for a week, or when they bought a box of delicious looking chocolate chip cookies that they knew you couldn’t resist eating, even though we’re on a diet. Living on your own, whether you have a cafeteria or a kitchen, your meals are up to you. You can choose to never have junk food in your house, you can keep mushrooms out of every meal, and you can only ever eat your favourite cereal! Most importantly, no one will eat the leftovers you were looking forward to having the next day (unless you have bad roommates … but lets save that conversation for another day).
3. Cleaning:
You still have to do all the chores you did when you lived with your parents, if not more, but at least now you can do them on your own time. There is no cleaning before you are allowed to go out, or bargaining with chores to borrow the car. It’s nice to walk into a messy room and know that you don’t have to deal with it right then if you don’t want to. Now you can finally live in the organized chaos that you strived for in high school.
4. Making Mistakes:
Making mistakes in your new solo life could be anything from missing the bus to missing an exam. No matter what the mistake is, being on your own, you no longer have anyone to blame but yourself. You have to, and are able to, confront yourself for the mistakes you make, and earn a new sense of responsibility for your actions. You get to learn from your mistakes in a whole new way: a way that is unguided, unexpected, and very, very, exciting. You learn how to balance work, and school, and a social life, all while keeping your sanity.
5. Being an Individual:
When you first move out of your parents’ house, and are on your own you are faced with many challenges. Regardless of the problems that you have to overcome, and the mistakes that you make, it is an awesome experience, and one that is a necessary part of growing up. You get to make all your own decisions, you can reinvent yourself, and become the person you have always wanted to be. There are things that will happen that will seem scary, and others that will seem amazing. You will find things that you really care about, and realize that others aren’t as important as you thought they were. You get to grow into the very best version of yourself.