Coming home from college is a great thing. No matter if you live half an hour away or across the country, there’s truly no place like home. Which is why when we’re thrown back into the world of essays, due dates and 8 a.m. classes, we start to get a little homesick for what we take for granted at home. Here’s 11 of those comforts that we didn’t know we would miss until they were gone.
1. Your family.
Be it both your mom and dad, just your mom, just your dad or any way your family is arranged, having an adult with their life together nearby is truly something we take for granted. Not only that, but having someone close by who loves you unconditionally, through all your failed tests and mental breakdowns, is not something college students get every day.
2. The familiarity of everything around you.
No matter what year you are, college can sometimes feel cold and unfamiliar, making us long for a place where everything is familiar. After 18 years of knowing exactly how many steps there are between your room and the fridge, and memorizing what it sounds like when your mom gets home from work, we start to miss all the little comforts of being home.
3. Home. Cooked. Meals.
Need I say more? After surviving off of dining-hall cereal and late-night pizza, college students can’t help but think back to all those home-cooked meals they took for granted in high school.
4. Wi-Fi that you don’t have to share with 10,000 other people.
No matter how big your family is, nothing compares to the struggle of trying to access Blackboard at the same time 10,000 of your closest friends are. Times like this make us long for Wi-Fi and internet access that we would only have to share with our siblings and parents.
5. Your friends that have known you all your life.
College friends are great, and some soon become friends for life, but after having to explain your entire life’s story to all new people you start to miss your lifelong friends. You remember all the fun times you had and wish you hadn’t taken them always being right down the street for granted.
6. Your furballs of amazingness and love…or your pets.
It’s no secret that pets are the best stress reliever, and unless you’re lucky enough to have one with you at school, you definitely start to reminisce on all the times your pet comforted you and made you feel loved (especially when you’re in the middle of your third cup of coffee on the last leg of your all-nighter).
7. The feeling of knowing you belong somewhere.
College is great, that’s no secret. In the beginning, though, before clubs, activities and meetings, you can definitely feel a little lost and out of place, which can make you miss being back in a place where you felt at home, comfortable and like you belong.
8. Unlimited access to some form of transportation.
Unless you’re lucky enough to either a) have your car on campus or b) go to school in a city, you’re pretty much land-locked until you figure out the campus bus shuttles or befriend someone with a car. All that money going to Uber on weekend nights for sure makes you wish you had never taken always having access to a car for granted.
9. A stocked fridge.
Grocery shopping is expensive. If you were lucky to enough to live in a house where groceries weren’t your responsibility, you definitely wish you hadn’t taken these times for granted when your wallet is empty and all you have in the fridge is a half-empty jar of olives.
10. Your childhood room.
It could be pink, Barbie-themed and still have posters up from your short-lived horse phase, but your childhood room is where all your memories were made, tears were shed and where you became you. If you’re in a cold, small dorm, you definitely miss your room and all the little things in there that reminded you of where you came from.
For everyone missing home, don’t worry. You aren’t alone!