Congratulations! You completed your first semester in college. Now it’s time to head home, and for many people, it’s an opportunity to catch up with friends and family members, and for others, catch up on some sleep after long nights studying for finals.
Heading home brings feelings of familiarity and uncertainty. Why is that? Here are few things to take note as you make your trip back home.
Seeing family again is a joy…and already (lovingly) irritating.
What’s not to be excited about going home? You get your own bed (assuming it’s still there) and home-cooked meals. There are no 8:00 a.m. classes, essays to write, or tests to study for – just you back in the comfort of the home you grew up in.
We understand every family has different dynamics, but being back in the parental nest after a long semester of independence may be a difficult pill to swallow. By week 2, the annoyance will be palpable. Whether it be triggered by your siblings or parents old habits, they will probably be just as annoyed with you for being a total sloth for two days straight.
This is completely okay! All in all, you are in their home, so it’s best to respect their wishes. Staying out late at night or binge watching Netflix for hours may seem completely reasonable to you, but your parents aren’t required to agree with you just because you are a college-attending grown up now.
Find a way to balance your time between hanging out with your family and time for yourself. After all, they are extremely excited to see you and hear about your experiences. For you, you will need that alone time to rest from the semester and enjoy what home has to offer.
Friends…a familiarity of the old.
Reunited and it feels so good! Did you sing it? We hope you did because it really does feel wonderful to see old friends. There’s that something about a long shared history where old friends understand you in a way your new friends don’t, yet. It’s a familiarity of the old.
It’s difficult to imagine a scenario where seeing your hometown best friends could be awkward, but just as you may have been changed from your college experience thus far, so have your friends, and that’s perfectly fine. Things won’t be the same but that doesn’t mean you can’t move forward together towards greatness.
Love the way you and and your friends have grown. As life marches on, you will inevitably lose connection with some folks and that’s okay, too. Friends (real friends), are the ones that stick around and will remain the same people at heart.
A time and place for everything.
Time management, as you may have learned over the past semester, is vital to success. The same concept applies during winter break. Look, there is nothing wrong with doing absolutely nothing; you’ve earned your break after all! Eventually, that desire for nothingness will fade away and you will be in stuck between wanting to head back to classes and wanting a longer break.
All we can recommend is that you find your balance. Set a few goals to accomplish, get a head start by preparing for the spring semester, binge watch everything Netflix has to offer, develop a new skill, or see what’s new in your hometown. There’s a time and place for everything, and how you spend your time is completely up to you.
They say home is where the heart is, so enjoy all the splendors of your holiday break!
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