If you’ve spent the last 10 months or so living on campus, it can be a bit of a shock living at home for the summer. While some students have apartments that they stay in throughout the entire year, most of the people that live in dorms will spend their summer at home. There’s certainly nothing wrong with this . . . it can just be a little tough. So to keep you from going nuts, I’ve provided you with an abbreviated guide to spending your summer at home.

One of the most important things you can do to keep your sanity when living at home is to stay in close contact with your friends from school. If you live near where you go to school, it’s pretty likely that several of your friends will live pretty close to you, so you should be able to meet up often for lunch or to toss a frisbee around. If you’re going to school across the country from where you live, this might be a little more difficult. If you’re lucky, a couple of your college friends will live within driving distance. If you’re not so lucky, you’ll have to resort to keeping in touch via email, Facebook, or the phone. If you’re far apart, you should still try to hang out at least a couple times throughout the summer. (Perfect opportunity for a road trip!)

In addition to stay in touch with your friends, you should make peace with your parents as soon as possible. Let them know that you’re thankful that they’re allowing you to stay at home (think of all the money it’s saving you), and that you’re willing to compromise on any rules that you disagree upon. Most parents are pretty cool with letting you do pretty much whatever you want—you have been living on your own for almost a year, after all. If your parents have some rules that you disagree with, like curfews or limits on how many friends you have over for a party, you should address this soon after you move in. Remember that your parents are being gracious in allowing you to spend your summer at home, and try to peacefully resolve the dispute.

Getting a summer job can also be a great way to make sure that living at home for the summer is a good experience. Not only will it get you out of the house often, it will also provide you with some cash so that you can a) go out and do things on the evenings and weekends and b) live on your own next summer. It’s tempting to just hang out and relax at home all summer, but I highly recommend getting a job (okay, you can probably take one summer off . . . it can get financially difficult, but it’s worth it).

As long as you can maintain your social life and keep the peace with your parents, spending your summer at home won’t be a big deal at all! In fact, living at home can be awesome . . . you don’t have to pay for food, you have a nice bed to sleep in (much better than dorm bunks), and you get to see your family every day (which may seem more like a curse than a blessing at first, but you’ll come to appreciate it in the coming years).

As always, if you have any questions, comments or funny stories you'd like me to share about college or the blog, email me at stu@stuvu.com