There have been a lot of significant changes in my life since I made the transition from high school to college. Some good, some bad, but all have taught me valuable lessons and led me in a more positive direction for the future.
The most important relationship I moved away from when going to college was my relationship with my parents. My parents and I have always been close, and I had lived with them up until they moved me in for my first year of college. They were definitely my hardest goodbye and it hasn’t gotten any easier every year when I move in again. Even though there was nothing wrong with our relationship before, I think that me moving away and not seeing them every day has made our relationship a lot stronger— we have more of an appreciation for one another. There would be days that I didn’t want to be around either of them or they were annoying me with their parent-ness, but now even when I’m home on break for a month I can’t get enough of them!
I am constantly calling them to tell them every little thing, I find myself missing them a lot more and their annoying quirks, all the things I used to take for granted I now wish were around. One of the biggest changes in our relationship has been how open I am with them. Before college, I would tell my parents things, but never release too much information because I didn’t know how they would respond, but now I can’t shut up when telling stories that I probably shouldn’t be. I think I share too much now, and they don’t even want to know about half of it! The other big change in our relationship would be how much more they trust me. I wasn’t untrustworthy before, but I was a high schooler, I did stupid things and sometimes lied to my parents. Since being at college and becoming more open with them, they definitely trust me more because I’m an adult, living on my own in another state, doing my schoolwork, going to class, so there’s not much they can really ‘complain’ about. As long as we’re open and honest with each other that’s all they want!
College has definitely had a positive impact on my parent’s and my relationship. We are a lot closer than we used to be and have an open line of communication that will always be there with no judgment.