Space

At home I have so much more space to put all my stuff. I also have more space for me to be in. When I am at school, I really only have my dorm room as my living space. I also have to share that living space with someone else. When I am home, I have lots of space in our house. I still share it, but a house is bigger than a dorm room. I really notice the space issue when I just want to be alone. I never had a place that I could just escape to when I wanted to be alone. At home I can go to my room or my sisters room, since they do not live at home. It is nice having that space to be alone and not have to worry about someone else being there. I also notice the space issue with belongings. When I am at home my room is a little messier than my dorm room...one reason is that I have more stuff at home but the other is because I have more room to put all of the stuff. At school I always felt like I had to keep our room very very clean in order for it to look big and like we had space to move around. My roommate did not always understand that concept...she often left clean clothes on the floor and even dirty ones, they were in separate piles. She could not use her desk for school work because she had so much other stuff on it. Her closet was even overflowing. I think she learned not to bring as much next year because she had so much. We do have a bigger room next year but still. I even know that I do not need to bring all the stuff that I did. I think growing up most people are used to having their own room, unless they come from a big family, so sharing a space that is the size that you might normally live in by yourself can be hard. You have to take in to account that there is now another person living with you and that all of your stuff has to fit in the same room. That is what I love about home, I can have all my stuff in my room, with no one else's stuff to fit it. It is nice!

Class

The main difference about being home is that I do not have to go to class. I mean that is kind of an obvious difference but it makes sense. I am glad that I do not have to walk to class everyday anymore. As many times as people say, "You will get used to the hills!" I do not think that I ever got used to the hills. I was always out of breath by the time I made it to the top...that could be because I walk really fast too and I was just trying to get up the hill as fast as I could. On days like today, I am extremely glad that I do not have to walk to class. When I woke up, it was pouring/storming. I always hated walking to class when it was raining because no matter how hard I tried I always got really wet. I used an umbrella but I still managed to get wet. Now when it was sunny, I liked to walk to class because the building I spent most of my time in did not have windows, so I could never see outside. I do not like that the building did not have windows because I like to see what is happening outside. On the other hand when it is sunny and hot then I do not like to walk to class. Once you walk down the one hill and up the other, you are sweating pretty bad. It is not fun. I like being home because I do not have any of these problems, I get to sit inside and bask in the glory of the air conditioning. Well I guess not everyday, all day because of work, but I have no homework to get done by the next day or anything like that. I enjoy having the free time to just sit and watch TV and not worry about school work. It is a nice feeling! I have that nice feeling until I start work full time, then I do not have all that free time. Either way I do not have to walk to class or do any homework! Oh and I get to chill with the dog and play with him. I enjoy this too! I really do enjoy being home and not having to worry about class. Walking to class is the worst part of going to class. It is just the fact that hills are annoying.

Bathroom

The other thing that I miss a lot about home is having my own bathroom. My bathroom just got redone, so it is nice. When I was at school, I did not like the fact that I felt like I had to wear shoes into the bathroom and that I had no privacy in the bathroom. I always got the feeling that someone was looking at me strange when I was brushing my teeth or my hair. It was weird cause at home I do not have to worry about that. I have my own bathroom. I know this may sound strange but it is nice to be able to actually use the bathroom in private. You do not have to feel like if you are in there too long that some one is thinking, "Wow this girl has been in here forever!" At home I can just go to the bathroom and not have to worry about other people...but sometimes I do have to worry about the dog pushing the door open on me. He likes to follow you wherever you go and sometimes if you do not close the door all the way, he will nudge it open with his nose and come in to join you. It is actually quite funny because my bathroom is pretty small and he is a big dog! Back on topic now, it is nice to just know that no one else is going to hear you go the bathroom either. I think it is just the fact that it is a public bathroom that everyone uses all year...when you go in public places you know that you may never see those people again, but when it is the same people all year, you feel a little strange. This is what is so nice about having my own bathroom, I mean my parents will occasionally use it if theirs is occupied but for the most part it is all mine. Just the privacy you have when you have your own bathroom is awesome. You can stay in there and do your makeup for as long as you would like, but mostly just knowing that you can stay in there for a longer amount of time. When you have a public bathroom you feel the need to do everything a lot quicker than normal. It is annoying. That is why I like being home because I have my own bathroom.

Shower

One of the main things I missed when I was at school was having my own shower. You may not realize it but there are lots of people that use the same shower everyday! I missed being able to shower without flip-flops on! Whenever I came home, I always tried to take as many showers as I could before I went back... I did not have to shower with flip-flops and I did not have to worry about someone walking in on me. The shower was also a lot cleaner at my house than at school. I was always afraid to touch the wall cause there was so much hair on it. It seemed like the cleaning lady only cleaned the shower once every like two weeks!! The drain in our shower also clogged a lot, so you were standing in the dirty water of two people or more. (there were two showers separated by a bathroom stall wall) The fact of how long the water stood there was gross to me, like who all showered before me... I mean I could have showered in our bathtub shower but it was not very tall...it did however, work really well for shaving your legs. At home all these worries are gone. I shower in a single shower and if it clogs, at least I know it is only my dirty water and not others. The best part is that it is clean and I am the only person that uses it, unless one of my sisters comes home and uses it, but that is not that often. Having a shower to myself is one of the best things about being home. Just the fact of knowing that no one else will be using it after you. The other thing that is nice about having my own shower is that I do not have to wait on anyone else to be finished using it before I use it. It is always free, unless I am using it. It is nice because there were times at school that I had to walk all the way down the hall in order to shower in the morning. It was annoying when there was a bathroom right outside my door. Now that I am home, it is simple, I can walk right into the bathroom and know that the shower will not be occupied. It is a great feeling!!

Air Conditioning

Air Conditioning is one thing that I have truly missed while I was at school. My dorm did not have AC! It was a pain in the butt when it got hot and my roommate and I were just sweltering in our room! The sad part is that next year the dorm we lived in will have AC but the dorm we are going to live in will not have AC. When I am home, I get to bask in the glory of not sweating through my clothes some days. I mean in high school we did not have AC either so I was kind of used to it, but in college most of the buildings I was in had AC so I was out of luck when I went back to our dorm. In all honesty I think most people can live without AC for a month or two but we are all so used to having it that it is hard for us to give it up. That is why when I am home I love the AC, because I am so used to it. My parents, mostly my mom, always wants the windows open cause she says she is cold but for me, I love the AC. I would rather be a little cold than be hot. I also miss having AC at school because I have bad outdoor allergies that flare up really bad when they cut the grass. So I almost have to hide out in our room till they are done cutting the grass! That is what I love about AC, I can hide away but still feel cool and not hot! AC is a privilege and I guess I am just so used to it that I let myself think that I really need it to survive when I do not. I worked at a summer camp that had no AC and I am still alive, so I guess I could make it through at school without it. I just miss the AC. I miss being able to sit inside and not hear everything that is happening outside because my window is all the way open....by the way, our window never stayed just a little bit open, it was either closed or all the way open. The slightest bit of wind and the window would open even farther....it was annoying, especially at night if we just opened it. I think that is the main reason I missed the AC at home so much.

Work

When I am at school, all I have to do is focus on school and nothing else. When I get home, I have to work. I do enjoy my job, most of the time. I am a lifeguard. Sometimes you just have those days where no kid will listen to you at all or they are just loud and disrespectful to you. I hate when they disrespect you, they should be taught that they obey the person in charge. As much as I love being at school and having that freedom, I am always afraid that I may run out of money. This is one of the reasons I do not like school. When I am home, at least I am earning money to put in my bank account. This is one nice thing about being home. As I said before, I like my job on certain jobs. Some days you dread sitting in the sun for five hours but other days you want to. This is the best part about being at school, you have no job and do not have to worry about whether or not you want to sit in the sun for five hours. I miss work sometimes too...I miss the people I work with and how close we get by the end of the summer. We all end up freaking out when we see each other again because we have all been away from each other. It is truly one of those moments that you look forward to. It will be a similar fate when I see my friends from school again. Even if I see them over the summer, I will still have that AHHH moment with them at school. Okay, back on topic, work. I like to work when you know it is not going to be a busy day and you can just "relax", however these days sometimes go slower than you want. That is one thing about school that is weird. The days go by so fast and it is just weird to think about it. Having a job is one thing that is completely different about being home and being at school. I will hopefully have a job on campus next year but I do not think that it will entail as much as life guarding. In that case there will not be a huge difference in being home and being at school, but there will be because I will be at home and not living in a dorm.

Sisterly Love

Okay, when I'm at school, I definitely miss my sisters. I am the youngest in my family and I have two twin older sisters. The one currently is not living in the same state as the rest of us. She is about three hours from home, so when I'm at school, she is even farther away. She was always the sister I was a little bit closer to because we had more in common. The other sister lives close to our house, so I get to see her more often. I got to see her just about every time I came home from school. So now, I am a little closer to her. Well, the sister that lives in a different state came home for a visit this weekend. It was great to get to see her. We even went shopping and several other places just the two of us. It was nice. I got to catch up with her and we enjoyed ourselves. When I'm at school I miss both of them. It is weird not having them around when I need them. They are only a few years older than me, so we were close. At school, I find when I need sister advice or anything else that they are far away. I do not like it! My sisters are important to me and I love them for that. Being away from them all time is hard... they mean the world to me. I love when I get to see them, even if it is just for a couple of hours. They always seem to what is going through my mind and help me through whatever it is. This is why being at school is hard. At least when I am home my one sister is close and she is there for me. I really do not know what else to say that can explain how much my sisters mean to me and how much they do for me. There really are now more words to describe what they do...they always seem to know things that happen in my life and a way to answer them. I think that is what is so awesome about having older sisters when your a girl. I guess if your a guy then having older sisters would not be such a great thing... good thing I am a girl! I love my sisters and they love me!

Friends

I know I already talked about friends in one of my other posts but I feel the need to talk about them more. When I was at school I was always surrounded by friends and it was awesome. Now that I am home, all those friends are hours away. It is very saddening. I miss them lots and I know they miss me. The sad part is that we are all busy, with jobs, summer school, and family that even if we wanted to get together, it is hard. My one friend, is better at it than my all my other friends. She knows that we are all busy but still really wants to make plans with all of us! She is the one that is also keeping me sane. After being home for awhile now, I have noticed which of my friends are really my friends. There are some who text, ask about things and want to make plans. Then there are the ones who do not text you unless it is in a group message setting. They do not even seem to care what is happening in your life. I really have a dislike for these people. You would think that because they are your friends, they would want to know what is happening with you since you have been apart...but no they just go on with their lives and forget about you. This is where those awesome friends come in, they feel the same way and they make you feel better about your feelings. Okay, now to talk about friends from high school. When you leave for college and come back, you really find out who your true friends were. Granted that I did not have a ton of friends in high school, I still saw which ones were truly my friends. The best case is my best friend still! We kept in touch all the way through the year and hung out when we could, since she was like 13 hours away! There were other people that kept in touch with me, like ones I played sports with or was just close to in general. There were others who I lost complete touch with and still have not talked to. These people were not truly my friends. So friends play a big role in the difference between home and school... The ones you were around in college are not near you and you lost some friends from high school.

Doggy Love

One of the other things that I have noticed about being home is that I now have someone who is always home with me...MY DOG! While I was away at school, I missed my dog Spencer a lot. He likes to cuddle with me and pretty much lets me do what I want to him. I was playing with him the other day, which is a rare thing since he does not really know how to play with people. He is very good at playing with himself! He likes to hold his toys in between his two front paws and roll on to his back to play. He will hold the toy over his head and play with it! It is the cutest thing you will see. I missed this a lot when I was away at school. I even told my mom at one point that I missed Spencer...the funny part is that apparently he misses me when I leave. My parents tell me he gets sad for the next few days after I leave. That's so cute! When I was at school and I was alone sometimes I wished for company. Now that I am home, I have that ability. But as much as I love my dog, he can get on my nerves. He will bark at things that are not even there...it is so annoying! He also barks at you when he has to go the bathroom, most of the time it is really because he has to go, while the rest are because he just wants attention. I do miss his bark sometimes when I am away at school, it is just one way that I remember him. Whenever it storms I miss him. He is afraid of storms because he is a rescue dog. He likes to run and hide near you or he just whimpers because he is afraid. I miss him when I am gone. Spencer is a good dog and he is loves to be around people. After being home for awhile I have noticed a lot more of his habits than I did before. He has certain spots he likes to sleep and certain toys he likes to play with. When I was at school and would just come home occasionally, I did not notice these habits. Well that is semi a lie... I always knew what his favorite toy, it is lamb chop! Does anyone else out there who has a dog see the same things and feel the same way?

Freedom

I must say after being away at college for a year, coming home is different. I lost some of the freedom that I had when I was away and all of my friends hours away. I also realized who my true friends from high school were. They were the only ones that kept in touch with me. I miss being able to stay up late and do what I want! Since being home, I have found that little things, like talking about boys, is harder. I also found that only your true friends from college keep in touch and wonder what is happening in your life. Friends are the icing on the cake when you need them and can also cut you down. The friends that stay are the ones that mean the most and truly care about you! I have one of those friends, she is also there and understands everything that happens to me! I am thankful for her. Being home, you lose the ability to go cry to a friend in their room when you have a bad day. Those friends are no longer a 5 min walk across campus, they are hour drives! I miss it and my friends! This is why friends are such an important part of your life. Back on topic, the freedom of college to home life is so different. You can not just go out and come back as you please, you have to get everything approved by your parents. That SUCKS! I also miss being able to go out with friends and not have to worry about waking up people when you come back. My roommate always went out with me so we always came back at the same time. Now you have to think about you parents and what will happen if you are too loud when you come home at 3 AM. I wish for my freedom back!! I also wish for my friends to be closer... I guess that is what I get for going to a school about 2 1/2 hours from home. My friends were a huge part of who I was at school, and that we are all hours apart, it is hard to be so close. I have still kept some really close friends because we always check up on each other! I miss them all still!! I wonder if I am alone in these feelings, or other college students feel the same way?