Returning to college at the end of break is always bittersweet. Quick list of personal pros and cons:
Con: Saying goodbye to high school friends.
Pro: Saying hi to college friends.
Con: No more home cooking.
Pro: Home cooking does not include an entire cabinet of dessert options. (And Tower dining hall does.)
Con: Adulthood is coming! It’s officially coming! I need to apply for jobs and stuff! Ahh!
Pro: I’m sure there’s an upside? There’s gotta be, right? Right?
Honestly, I don’t know what the upside to graduating is going to be. I’ve returned from winter break plenty of times–well, three, to be precise–but this is the first time that I’ve come back to my Last Semester Ever. I’m nervous, honestly. If you’re finishing up your senior year of high school, I imagine you’re feeling pretty nervous about your impending graduation as well. Luckily, I’m on other side of that particular transition, so I can actually write a proper pro/con list for you:
Con: No, you won’t be able to stay super close to all your high school friends. (No matter what you promise each other at graduation parties at 1 am.)
Pro: The people you meet at college will be great. Honestly. People who want to stay up late talking about cool stuff. People who share your weird interests. You will find your people here.
Con: You will definitely get homesick at some point.
Pro: Skype is a wonderful invention! Call your parents regularly, not just when they nag you. This will ultimately help a lot with the homesickness thing. If being away from your parents doesn’t sound that bad right now (college app season can reeeaally put families through the wringer), please know that even a little distance can make things a lot easier.
Con: Yes, you’ll have to do more homework.
Pro: But you’ll also have so much more time to do it in! Classes don’t take up more than a few hours a day, for the most part. The rest of the time is yours to use how you want: to study, to visit Boston, to meet up with friends, to make a blanket fort in the common room–you do you. Being trusted to manage my own time was one of the joys of college that I really didn’t anticipate.
Con: College classes are harder than high schools.
Pro: But they’re also so much more interesting! You pick what you want to study. I’ve taken classes in detective fiction, in Asian-American psychology, in translation studies–if you’re interested in it, there’s probably a class in it. (Unless you’re interested in, I don’t know, a specific breed of South American snail or exclusively the eighth season of Friends. I can’t help you with that.)
Con: You’re expected to do your own laundry 100% of the time.
Pro: Okay, maybe some of you are more proactive about chores and already do this. I, for one, am not a fan. I actually can’t think of a pro here. Laundry straight up sucks.