Maybe thoughts of coming home and spending time with your family and friends got you through the year away. And hopefully coming home will feel easy and good. But it's also natural for any college student to feel conflicted during their first summer home. After all, you've changed a lot over the past year, in ways that may make it hard to relate to people around you.  

Read on to read how other students have felt, or click here for tips from other first generation college students on talking to their families about college.    

"Being gone more than a year, I have been forced to accept the fact that I may never truly feel at “home” ever again. I might never again feel like my parents’ child in the same way that I did as an adolescent. But I’m not on my own yet either. I’m in limbo." 

-Kelly Crosson, student (https://www.elitedaily.com/life/home-holidays-college/1297159) 

"When I was still in school, I thought I was ready for summer break. When I’m at school, I miss my friends and family back home. I crave the ocean and home-cooked meals. I feel every mile I am away from my hometown and all the memories that come with it. But now that I’m on the other side, I really miss being at school. Honestly, it’s bittersweet. This internal conflict is new to me, but not new to people who have been in my position. It’s hard to explain. It’s a combination of excitement and sadness. It’s the feeling when you don’t know exactly where “home” is anymore. 

-Matthew Rogers, student (https://www.theodysseyonline.com/coming-home-college1)