Four Realities of Going Home for Summer

In the iconic scene from the 1994 film The Shawshank Rememption, Andy, played by Tim Robbins, tunnels out of prison, rips his shirt off, and throws his arms to the sky as rain pours down on him.

This perfectly captures the feeling that I, along with millions of other young people, feel during arguably the most magical moment of the year: the day schools gets out for summer. For me and all other college freshmen, this magical moment will be very different from those that preceded. Freshman year is an extremely transformative experience in a young person’s life and a lot of things will change upon coming home.

1. Freudian Regression

Most of us out there probably don’t do keg stands at the dinner table, nor are our parents down to take bong rips with you go back home. All of your unbridled escapades will be no longer as you return to your authoritarian state known as home headed by the dictators known as mom and dad. After you’ve been nudged out of the nest you will swiftly be tossed right back in, causing weird psychological things to happen. A few weeks back home and you’ll probably look like this.

2. Seeing Your High School Friends

Coming back and seeing your friends after a full year of college will be strange. Of course, people will go through 360 changes. You’ll have the geek turned frat star, the kid who is now vegan and goes to protests, and many more. Without the Hobbesian battle arena known as high school to keep everyone hating each other and shying away from sincerely expressing themselves, you might just find that you’ll have better relationships with your past buddies.

3. TV

College was probably the first time that we were stripped of the all mighty educator television. Sure, most of us have computers where we can watch countless hours of Netflix, but the majority of us don’t have the luxury of going into the living room and watching infomercials or day time soap operas to soothe our brains into a lull.

4. Summer Responsibilities

For most of our lives summer was a time of unlimited playdates (especially at your friend’s house where the pool was) and endless childhood wonderment. Now we have to face the harsh realities of the world. There are no vacations for adults. We have summer jobs, internships, and classes. That euphoric moment upon finishing your last final will be squashed like a bug by the giant boot of life when we are sucked back into an endless cycle of work.