15 Things Every Post Grad Misses Immediately After College

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Graduating college is hard, leaving behind a life you spent four years building is even harder. You grew so close to the people around you and the day you’ve been dreading has finally come and it was as hard as you imagined it would be to leave it all behind.

1) Your roommates. Even if some of their habits drove you insane you still loved them. Moving out and knowing you probably won’t ever live with them again is really heart breaking. It’s like the last episode of Friends when they all put their keys on the table and head off in different directions. Lots of tears, laughs and memories were shared in that house.

2) Late night adventures. Whether it was going out and getting food because you were starving and didn’t want anything in the house or a last minute decision to go out after you told everyone you were staying in. Adventures were always more fun after dark.

3) Sitting around talking about everything or nothing. There were times you’d hang out all day and talk about things like you were  50 year old women in a book club and there were times you’d talk about nothing, but just enjoyed each others company. It was the time spent together that made it enjoyable.

4) Cheap drinks. There is no place like a college town bar with dirt-cheap drink specials. You can’t wait to go back because you know you’re going to feel like you’ve hit the lotto because you’re used to paying around $10 for a mixed drink everywhere else now.

5) Making your own schedule. It was so nice having the luxury of never having an 8 AM if you didn’t want one. It was also nice if you could finish your day by noon. The real world isn’t so great and having your life planned out for you by work kind of sucks.

6) Having so much free time and breaks. Even if your semesters were crazy you totally still enjoyed all the breaks, who didn’t love five weeks off over Christmas? Well, it was kind of long, but the no work part was definitely still nice and hello summer vacation is always great.

7) Wearing sweatpants everyday. Dressing up sucks. Especially when you’re used to walking around in sweatpants everywhere, but in the real world that doesn’t fly so business casual it is for most jobs.

8) Cheap meals. Even if you didn’t have a meal plan your last couple years of college you still had your favorite hole in the wall kind of restaurant you loved eating at because everything was super cheap. In reality it didn’t really matter how much you went there because it was equivalent of buying groceries. Plus, you became a regular and the staff loved you.

9) Napping. You went to one class and you want to take a nap? Go ahead and take a nap because you can. Napping is awesome and needed, but the real world doesn’t offer much time for a nap.

10) Living closely to all your friends. And missing them terribly now that you know none of them are just going to come walking through your front door. When you think back on your college experience it’s safe to say some of your best nights were just hanging out at home with a bunch of your friends.

11) Not having people to go out with because people have real responsibilities now. Jobs trump getting drunk and it sucks.

12) Being poor was socially acceptable. It was nice when people around you actually understood that you were poor so it didn’t make you feel bad when you didn’t want to go do something. Nearly everyone in college was in the same boat, so it was acceptable. Being poor in the real world is not the same.

13) You didn’t have real responsibilities. Sure, you might have had bills to pay and a part-time job to work on top of college, but realistically you will never have as much freedom as you did in college and missing that is pretty much inevitable.

14) It was acceptable to be drunk, a lot. You didn’t have to worry about being judged for always going out and having a good time if that’s what you wanted to do because after all it was college and if you wanted to go out on a Tuesday you could.

15) College was easily the best part of your life thus far and that alone is enough to make you miss it. You had great times and meet amazing people. Not having the people you spent years doing everything with a few minutes away is a hard pill to swallow, but it’s part of life.