Whether it’s a five hour flight or a one hour drive away from school, our hometowns often feel like they’re a completely different world when we’re away at school. As much as we missed Emory and our school friends over the short break, here are five things you probably really appreciated about being back home over Fall Break.
1. Family
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While talking on the phone is great, it doesn’t come close to actually spending time with your biggest support team. Although sometimes it seems like their goal in life is to annoy you as much as possible, there’s nothing like a few days of love and laughs to remind you how important your family is to you. Plus, what’s more fun than picking a stupid fight with a sibling? Essentially nothing.
2 . Your Own Room
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No matter how thick your mattress topper is or how much you’ve decorated your dorm room, something about being back in your childhood bed makes you feel like a new level of well-rested. Besides, it’s impossible not to appreciate the peaceful atmosphere. You’d definitely have a hard time being woken up by the never-ending campus construction or your neighbor’s noisy pregame when you’re miles and miles away!
3. Food
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Let’s be real – finding good food on campus is the ultimate struggle, especially when we’ve spent most of our Dooley Dollars in the first few weeks of school (…oops). Being at home means eating real, good food for all your meals, either home cooked or from your favorite restaurant. I’ve definitely challenged myself to eating as much home cooked food as possible, before the inevitable return to an unsatisfying diet of slightly undercooked Ducling chicken.
4. Pets
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Besides being extraordinarily cute, our pets are the only members of our family who are never too busy to spend time with us and never fail to cheer us up with an adorably friendly hello. We know that no matter how much time we’re away from our pets, they’ll still be infinitely excited to see us when we come home. There’s a special bond we have with our pets that a sighting of a random puppy on campus just can’t replicate. This makes us appreciate our time with them even more.
5. Reliable wifi
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Last but definitely not least, being home with stable wifi is not something to take for granted. Perks of being home include being able to watch Netflix without having to worry about the next time EmoryUnplugged will mysteriously shut down.
Now that we’re back at school, those of us who didn’t appreciate home enough are probably anxiously awaiting Thanksgiving Break for another homemade meal and family reunion. For now, enjoy Emory — the food might not be the greatest and our beds might be made out of cardboard, but there are a lot of undeniably great perks of getting to live with our friends for nine months out of the year.