College is the first taste of the real world… if the real world is living in accommodations that are paid for by your parents, surviving off coffee and ramen, and spending every weekend making more unhealthy decisions than the last.
Even so, college offers young adults the kind of independence they could only dream about in high school. We make our own schedules, eat what we want, decide which classes to take, and control virtually every aspect of our day-to-day lives. We leave our rooms as messy as we want them, do laundry when we’re down to our last pair of underwear, and have pizza for breakfast, lunch and dinner just because we can.
Though we thrive in our new realities, the independence is temporary. We’re stuck in an adulthood limbo, meaning we’re financially unstable, almost-real-people who must spend breaks at home with our parents. While coming home is pleasantly nostalgic, it is also undeniably frustrating to basically go back in time to our late teens years.
The Perks
1. Your bed is made, simply because mom thinks it looks too messy otherwise.
2. The laundry is done, because dad doesn’t trust us to operate any sort of machinery. (Can we blame him?)
3. We’re eating three square meals a day, because real adults have more than leftover pizza and expired condiments in their fridge.
4. Everything is cleaner, because homeowners prioritize dusting and scrubbing over drinking and sleeping.
5. It’s like a luxury hotel with extra pillows, clean sheets and enough hot water to shower 27 times in one day.
6. There’s always clean silverware because DISHWASHER.
7. The snack cabinet is never bare.
8. Our tanks are full, because there comes a point in one’s life when the gaslight turning on isn’t a regular, expected occurrence.
9. They’ll most likely throw you a $20, just because.
10. Pets. That is all.
The Struggles
1. It’s technically not your living space. Their house, their rules.
2. Leaving clutter around the house has the potential to start World War III.
3. You feel guilty for staying out late or forgetting to tell them where you are.
4. Blasting music or stumbling up the stairs isn’t the most respectful thing to do.
5. You have to face the people who raised you in all your hungover, shameful glory the morning after a night of binge drinking.
6. Anyone and everyone asks about your future plans, and your parents can’t help but drop hints that it’s almost time to move out.
7. Alone time really doesn’t exist under your family’s roof.
8. Your Netflix obsession is suddenly a serious health issue. So is drinking an entire bottle of wine in one sitting.
9. Sleeping out? You better have a good reason. Casual romance? Forget about it. One night stands? Yeah right.
10. They touch your stuff. Enough said.
Sure we love our parents to death, but that doesn’t make giving up this newfound freedom any easier to do.