One of the great things about college is that staying in a dorm, eating dining hall food and showering in community showers all make being home a million times more awesome than normal. Sleeping in your own bed, cuddling with your dog and having a house (instead of a single room) to laze around in just feels so right.
However, being home for winter or summer break can be extremely frustrating. After spending a year at school without extreme parental supervision, living by someone else’s rules and having to check in with parents can make you feel like you’re reverting to the way you lived when you were 15. Below are some issues that many college students, myself included, face when staying at home for longer periods of time.
1. Curfew
One of the most frustrating things I have experienced at home this summer is having a curfew. I have to wonder if my parents know how many nights I have studied at the library until 3 a.m. or have stayed out after bar close and gotten home safely. As much as I appreciate my parents looking out for my safety by checking in on me, I feel that after staying up and out as long as I want at school, I should be allowed some leeway at home. Besides, I’m young — when else am I going to get a chance to drive around my hometown with my friends blasting music at 1 a.m. just because?
2. Cars
My family consists of four licensed drivers and three cars. My parents drive their own cars to work, and my sister and I are lucky enough to share a car (although since I have been in college, it has slowly become more her car than mine), and we have jobs as well. On top of that, my brother is learning to drive. In order to reduce fighting over cars and gas money, we actually had to create a car schedule in an excel spreadsheet to make things as fair as possible. I absolutely don’t expect to have a car available to me at all times, and my family tries to work around everyone’s schedules with cars, but oh how I miss how everything was so walkable at school, and I didn’t need to fight to use a car.
3. Chores
I don’t mind doing chores. I live under my parent’s roof, and as long as I do, I’m going to help around the house. However, I am the oldest child in my family, and I naturally feel that much of the responsibility falls on me. If my mom leaves a list of chores to do, I end up either doing most of the chores or delegating them and making sure they get done in a timely fashion, which is a chore in itself. At school, I didn’t have to worry about my friends doing their own chores. Now that I’m home, I have to worry about others doing their part and have to rely on teamwork to get stuff done, and it’s hard to communicate that to my younger siblings.
4. Getting stuff taken away or being grounded
My parents are constantly telling me to clean my room — even after I have already cleaned it — and if it’s not up to their expectations, I’m not allowed to leave the house until my room is spotless. When I “give sass” or express an opinion that differs from my parents, I risk getting my phone taken away. Now, I firmly believe that no matter how old you are, you should respect your parents, but I feel my developing opinions should be respected even if they aren’t understood. At school, I was just understood and accepted, no matter how dirty or clean my room was, and I was not at risk for being punished for expressing my views.
Don’t get me wrong, being home is great, but I don’t want to give up the freedom I had at school when I do stay at home. College provides a lot of independence, and I think it’s understandable that college students often feel restricted while staying at home for long periods of time. As much as I absolutely love being home for the summer, I cannot wait to get back to school… just not the school work.