Lesson 7: Home Sweet Home

The time has come! It's finally time to go back to college. Your first response will probably be screaming "Victory!" or singing "Reunited and it feels so good". Either answer is normal, but as far as it being socially acceptable? That depends on how cool your friends are...
You will also probably have an unexplainable desire to stay up all night, eat junk food at every waking hour of the day, and do everything your parents would find absolutely appalling all on your first day back. If you have a serious case of university desperation disorder, you also might have a strong urge to stuff your suitcase under the bed and continue to live out of it instead of hanging your clothes back in your closet. You rebel, you! In this case, I would recommend seeing a specialist.
Yes, it's exciting to be back "home" where matching clothes is overrated, sleep is for the weak, and trips to Walmart are a thrilling pastime...but you have a whole semester to do all of your favorite, questionable things. Don't try to jam-pack everything in one day. Or in one week, for that matter. Such jamming may produce an exhausted student who wishes for nothing but the "boring" days back under Mom and Pop's roof.
And heaven forbid you want that!

Lesson 2: I'm Bad, I'm Bad, You Know It (Michael Jackson voice)

Let's face it. When you go off to college, you can't wait to leave your parents. You have dreams of drinking straight out of the milk carton, never washing behind your ears, and going in public WITHOUT matching your clothes. I know, I know, college kids can be so darn rebellious. 

Just because you have that freedom doesn't mean you should exercise it all the time. Exercise? Yes. Exercise is a must: you don't want to come home for Christmas and have your grandma pinching your cheeks, telling you how much more there is of you to love now. While that may be true, you don't want that freshman fifteen just so grammy has more to love. Buy the old lady a cat or something if she needs something more to kiss and hug.

Anyways, be responsible. If you are going to two-step the night away with the total hottie who sleeps throughout your whole history class, that's a decision you and only you can make. Mommy won't be texting you, telling you it's time to come home. (If she is...we need to have a serious talk). Plan your schedule. Make time for the fun stuff, but get your homework done too. As much fun as college is, you're paying a whole heck of a lot of money to just hit the clubs. And if you are going dancing, pick a night where girls get in free.

The moral of the rambling is this: Being good at line dancing gets you no where in the real world, dummies. While it may attract the attention of an occasional cowboy here and there, it isn't a career-maker. Focus on preparing for the big bad world of adults, then you can dust off your boots and sequin belt and hit the dance floor.