Going home my freshman year vs. my junior year

My hometown is about four hours from where I go to college so I don't travel home very often and without a car on campus I dread traveling home more and more each time (I promise Syracuse isn't actually that bad). This past weekend I traveled home and couldn't help thinking of the differences of traveling home from when I was 18 to now, almost 21.

Freshman Year
1. I actually want to go home. 

I haven't eaten "mom's spaghetti" in a month and a half and there's the cliche ~I miss my bed!!11!!~

2. The bus scares me.

Even today I will admit Boston's South Station is overwhelming. There are terminals for buses going all across the country with tourists and college students everywhere.

3. I forgot how to drive.

How do I switch on the CD player from the radio? How do I switch gears? Speed limits are just suggestions, right?

4. I make plans with friends. 

"I'm coming home this weekend! Let's hang out????" is what I would text to everyone within a 20-mile radius of Syracuse who attend college in the area or are still in high school.

Junior Year
1. I realize I have too much work to go home. 

This past weekend when I went home, my homework was to finish a graphic, start an art project, find newsworthy tweets, write an essay on the political campaign, and read multiple passages. I watched "Scrubs" on Netflix.

2. I have to spend time with parents. 

'Nuff said.

3. I have to share the car. 

When I left for college my sister was a mere 14 years old. Now she drives to school, work, and her friends' houses. I had to ask my friend Jenna for a ride (and the worst part is, she got lost going to our destination).

4. I miss my other friends. 

When you spend 25/8 with a handful of people and consider yourself their unofficial roommate, it's hard to say goodbye. But when you shout, "I brought presents!!!" they forget you ever left them.