- Unpacking:
We all know this is the worst. Personally, I barely unpacked at home because I hate it so much. We pack up everything we think we need for a month at home. We completely over packed and could have left half of it at school. So now we have to get it out of the car, lug it through the snow and back into your room. You have to unpack, hang, and put everything away. Why did we take four dufflebags full of clothes home again? Did we need all those hoodies when we wore the same one for two days straight? Did we need all those “party clothes” when we knew very well we weren’t going out with “friends from high school”?
- Feeding yourself:
Cooking for yourself again. How does one just cook for one? And if your trying to keep that New Year’s resolution of eating better and losing weight, it is even harder. Not to mention, you now have to go grocery shopping. If you’re like me, I hate grocery shopping. You go in with a list and leave with 15 things that weren’t on your list and forgot the things you came for.
- Doing your own laundry:
No matter if you live on campus or off campus, doing laundry sucks. If you live on campus or in an apartment and use a laundromat, you know the struggle. Load up the laundry basket, grab the detergent, and the quarters. You are in it for at least two hours. And the struggle of all the washers and dryers being taken. And let’s not even get started about the random sock that isn’t yours. Now some stranger is missing a sock and now you have some strangers sock. It was easier at home, when, if you’re lucky, mom washed and dried and folded for you. Next time you do laundry, call your mom, and say thank you.
- Sharing your space:
You might live with a friend or a rando, but either way you can’t let your inner slob run free. Dishes have to go to the sink, laundry can’t lay on the bathroom floor, shoes can’t be left at the door. You have to clean up after yourself. It doesn’t magically get taken care of, you have to do it. I’m fortunate to have my own bedroom and share the rest of the house with my roommate. Personally, my room at school is always spotless, but at home it’s a mess. I always tell my mom I keep it like that because if a robber were trying to get in, they would trip over all the shoes and I would hear them. Personal safety, right?
- Waking up early:
Over break, unless you had to work, who got out of bed before 10? Not me. Now you have class at all hours of the day, homework up to your eyeballs, extracurricular meetings, sports, and so on. You have to be up and be a functioning person by 8:00 if your unlucky. And let’s not forget this is five days a week. For some this is a wakeup call. (Haha get it.) But really, you can’t wake up and lay in bed and binge Netflix for We can’t just keep pressing snooze on all five alarms.
Now as much as going back to school may suck, it has its perks too. Finally seeing your friends after a long month at home with no friends. Getting back to a routine or schedule. You finally have purpose in your life again. Being away from home. (I personally love being home, so this is a reason why I hate being at school.) We all struggle with going back to school, if we know it or not.