Emotions involved when reuniting with your friends back home

[caption id="attachment_10395" align="alignnone" width="840"] Courtesy of Seton Hall's LinkedIn[/caption] After what felt like a long and never ending semester, summer is finally here and that means the Pirates have packed up from South Orange and made their way home. Summer homecoming is one of many emotions: happiness to be finished with schoolwork, relief at the chance to relax and excitement to see old friends from home. The reunion is usually followed by a series of steps:

1.     Shock and excitement: The moment that you reunite with friends from home is always filled with enthusiasm because the anticipation leading up to this moment is grand.  If your friends are really emotional then this moment might include a lot of exclaiming and jumping.
2.     New style: Social media such as Instagram allows us to keep up-to-date with friends who live far away. However, when actually meeting up with friends, there will always be talks about new style such as clothes and current trends which you can’t wait to share with each other.
3.     Culture shock: Living in a new area brings about new culture and customs to an individual. So, when back home, sharing new food, music and other preferences with friends is inevitable.
4.     Drama: A summer reunion with your college friends will not be complete without catching up on stories which needed to be told in person rather than through a phone call or text. These stories could be about new relationships, tough exams and the overall college life.
5.     Planning: The return back home in May means making plans for the summer which involves meeting up with friends and strategizing how to make the most of the summer together. Whether it’s a trip to the beach, amusement park, concert or any other summer experience, the first step is to plan.
6.     Setting goals: Sharing goals for the summer with friends is a must, as encouraging each other to keep at these goals makes achieving one more fun. Vowing to start a daily work out, eat healthier, save up money for school (more window shopping than shopping sprees) or finishing reading at least one book are just a few ideas to aim for with your friends.
7.     Putting arguments aside:  There is probably nothing better than time that could dissolve a disagreement. When time and distance separate friends then there is a greater likelihood of forgiveness. Reuniting with friends can fix any falling outs which can later leave only laughter at the disagreement which seems trivial in the present.
8.     Noticing growth: It is no secret that the time spent away at college can change a person and this growth is especially clear when meeting up with friends for the first time. This is exciting, but can be a little bit unsettling when you realize that you and your friends are headed towards adulthood.
9.     Appreciation: When you don't see some friends for a long period of time, it's great to finally reunite, cherish the time spent together and create an appreciation for the friends that you do have from back home.
10.  Reminiscing: When you finally do catch up with friends, it always involves laughing and recalling the past. Thinking back to the memories made in high school, inescapable care free times and old jokes allows you to appreciate how far you and your friends have come.

Once finally reuniting with friends, a fun-filled summer of hitting the beach instead of the books awaits so through capturing these memories and enjoying the summer, it might make the return to school in the fall a little bit easier. Kelly Zarnowski can be reached at kelly.zarnowski@student.shu.edu.