When your study period ends, TALK English Schools students will look back on their time learning English in the U.S.A. as a magical, formative and unforgettable time of their lives. College offers young people the kinds of experiences and opportunities that they never thought possible. The best thing about college is not only the study, it is the combination of everything of offer that makes it the experience of a lifetime.  These are some things you will miss the most after college, so appreciate them while you have them!

What you miss after college

1. Friends: You never have as great an opportunity to meet loads of people and make many friends from all walks of life as you do at college.  After college, you may find that the opportunities to meet people and create friendships diminish somewhat as you move away, find a new place to live and settle down. Although some friendships don’t last after college, you can make sure that yours do. Make a special attempt to keep in touch with any of the college friends that you want to keep in your life.
2. Spring Break: Spring break is a time when students take some time off from their study and have fun. Take advantage of this traditional college student break when the name of the game is to let your hair down, forget about your studies and enjoy the company of your fellow students.
3. Studying Abroad: For some international students, when their study period ends, it’s time to go back to their home country. You are going to miss this time, when you not only met new people and learnt new subjects, but you also experienced a different country and culture and got a taste of international travel and its rewards.
4.  Student Discounts: After graduating, you no longer qualify for all those wonderful student discounts. Take advantage of them while you can!
5. What Student Debt?: During your study period, the question of all that debt you are building in order to have a good education tends to remain firmly in the back of your mind.  The reality only hits once you have finished college, and you will long for the days when loan repayments were not a regular, somewhat stressful part of your life.
6. Have Meal Plans: After you have finished college, you won’t be able to take advantage of all those planned meals that are available in student residences. That means of course that if you want to eat, you have to do things like make shopping lists, go shopping at grocery stores – and then cooking it all yourself.
7. Living in Dorms: Dorms are a super-convenient from of accommodation. After graduating you need to get used to new living arrangements. You will find that your cost of living probably increases substantially, depending on the area or city you have chosen to move to.
8.  Having More Free Time: Although studying in college is hectic, you tend to have more free time than when you have your first real job. This is something that many students miss the most about their college years.
9. Not Spending as Much Money: During your college years, you would not have had to spend as much money as with regular office or another job.  All the expenses of being an independent wage-earner will become apparent to you very soon after you have made the transition from college student to employee.
10. Having a Routine: In college with all the class schedule etc, you easily fall into a daily routine.  When you work in the real world, you may find it harder and harder to set and keep your routines each day. You have to learn to discipline yourself, manage your time efficiently, and establish your own routine instead of having that routine imposed on you.