I Missed Being a Stereotypical College Student
So I just returned from my first time away from Vanderbilt in THREE MONTHS, and let me tell you, it is good to be back.
Don’t get me wrong, it was great seeing my friends and family back at home, and even better getting a break from class and tests and essays and homework and all that fun school stuff. But from the moment my Lyft driver dropped me off on Commons, you could not wipe the smile off my face. I might have even giggled with excitement. Good thing campus was still pretty empty and no one was there to judge me.
As much as I missed Vanderbilt and its beautiful campus, however, I think what I missed even more was the simply the novelty of being a college student. Sure, you have to do your own laundry and wake up early for classes, but there’s something about college life that just isn’t same as it is at home. Here’s a list of all of the things I missed about being in college:
1) You never have to do anything on your own.
This may sound silly, but it was actually weird sitting in my house with no one around (aside from my parents, who go to sleep at like 10:00). While living in the dorms, if I feel like procrastinating, I just have to walk down a couple flights of stairs, and there will be a crowd of people eager to procrastinate with me. My friends and I eat pretty much every meal together. Sometimes we do laundry together. We even take trips to Munchie Mart together, which is like a two minute walk. In college, your friends aren’t just the people who go to school with you and sometimes go out with you on weekends. They’re the people do almost everything with you.
2) Munchie Mart
Munchie Mart: the on-campus store where you can pretty much buy any food, drink, or candy your heart desires. Admittedly, I don’t frequent Munchie as often as some of my peers, but when you have a craving for Apple Jacks or mandarin oranges or Frito Honey Barbeque Flavor Twists (yes, I’m eating them right now and they’re delicious), it’s pretty convenient that they’re all available at a moment’s notice. And it sure beats having to drive all the way to the grocery store.
3) Going outside in PJs
Okay, technically you can do this at home, but if you just walk into the supermarket wearing PJ pants and a huge t-shirt, people might judge you a little bit. In college, maybe people are still judging you a little bit, but they’re also judging at least a quarter of the other kids in whatever building you’re in.
4) Permission is no longer required
Junk food, going out on week nights, wearing the same shirt for five days in a row – no one is going to stop you. (Disclaimer: that doesn’t mean you should do any of those things. But, you know, you can. If you really wanted to).
5) FAMILY.
Wait, what? Yes, family. After spending the last three months doing EVERYTHING (see #1) with my fellow Memorial residents, I really do think of my housemates as my family and experienced major withdrawal over the week-long break. Even though we texted each other pretty much every day of break, nothing beat sitting in the common room on Sunday and greeting each member of the Memorial family as they came back. Again, it is good to be back.
