As the youngest child, your transition from high school to college can be especially emotional for your family. But for you, it's a welcome period of well-deserved freedom. Forget your parents' and siblings' worries about you going out of state. This is your time!
1. You're homesick, but, like, not that homesick.
Your friends are calling their parents multiple times a day while you're enjoying sharing a hallway with 30 people who actually KNOCK!
2. Your parents are busy enjoying their retirement while you're busy celebrating your newfound independence.
It's a new chapter in your life, and you are greatly enjoying the first page.
3. Your siblings are reliving their glory days and desperately want to visit.
Any sibling older than 21 is more than welcome to crash on the floor of your dorm room.
4. No one in your family understands that using a laptop in class is very standard.
And they praise every teacher that bans laptops in class, yet do not realize how many emails college students receive per hour.
5. You get roasted in the group chat every time you look drunk in a tagged photo on Facebook.
It's not your fault your siblings went to college before Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, Finstas and Twitter were a thing! We're all adapting to this new DIGITAL AGE!
6. You're a little too comfortable with flying alone.
All those trips back and forth with no company have made you an honorary flight attendant.
7. Actually, you're so comfortable flying alone that traveling with family members stresses you out.
It's just so much easier when your mom isn't telling you to take your shoes off even though you're in the TSA pre-check line while she's divvying up the tickets and photo IDs.
8. Every phone call home begins with questions about the weather.
Yup, I go to school in the Midwest. Which usually means it's five degrees warmer than my hometown in New York. Riveting.
9. You come home for Thanksgiving with new regional phrases and accents, unrecognizable to your family.
"Yeah, in Ohio they call soda POP! And sneakers TENNIS SHOES! It's like another planet!!!"
10. Your room at home becomes a gym.
You knew your parents had been planning this since the firstborn left, but of course you're the one who has to get rid of all their stuff and adjust very quickly to a new environment.
11. After the initial sparkle of freedom dulls, you're jealous of your friends who can cure their homesickness with a short drive.
While they may bug you constantly, you actually do kind of miss your family sometimes.
12. You get used to missing small holidays at home.
But are soooo thankful to your friends and their families who are willing to take you in for a long weekend.
13. You are replaced by a pet.
And the pet is probably a lot easier to take care of than you were, so you can't really fault your parents for showering it with love, affection, attention and treats.
14. You get one step closer to being seen as an actual adult.
You've always been the baby of the family (and probably always will be) but now that you can navigate college life and get yourself across the country, you're that much closer to being a real person and not a child!
