Parents aren't so useless after all.When I went home for fall break, I was excited to see my family again. As a freshman, it was the first time I'd been away from them for an extended period of time. However, after the initial pleasure of reunion, I was greeted with something I definitely had not missed: Nagging.My mom had made a to-do list for fall break. I had to balance my checking account, buy winter clothes and clean up my room I'd been gone for two months, how was it messy?But now that I'm back at school, something has dawned on me. Sometimes when parents nag in high school, it seems pointless. I learned that if I ignored a task, my mom would just end up doing it.But at college, if I ignore a task, it doesn't get done at all. For instance, earlier this year I was busy and ignored my laundry. It piled up and before I realized what was happening, I had run out of clothes. Plus my laundry bag fell over and spilled all over the floor. That was the first time I realized I wasn't in the proverbial Kansas anymore.At home, my mom would always comment that my desk was a mess. I used it as a repository of all the random pieces of paper I received. When I got here, this habit got even worse. With less space then at home, the area next to my laptop on my desk became a jumbled pile of paper, books, hats and even my cell phone. I learned the hard way to organize myself when I became convinced I had lost my checkbook.Another instance happened to my roommate earlier this year. At home, mothers call the entire family to the table, or at least tell you there's food in the fridge for when you get hungry. But at college, you have to remember to eat and eat right. My roommate ran into slight trouble with this the first week, eating approximately one meal a day.Furthermore, without parents to put food on the table, I had to make sure I was eating a balanced diet. I had to make sure that as well as finding the dining hall's pizza and burgers, I also found the salad bar.Lastly, not having a curfew at college is pretty nice, and I feel like I can handle being out late on weekends by sleeping in later than my family (especially my little sister) would let me do at home. However, when it comes to week night sleep, I have been spoiled by a sound sleeping roommate who doesn't mind if I'm up until 3 a.m. instant messaging my girlfriend and my friends from home. Some day, my goal is to have enough willpower to go to bed and get more than four hours of sleep.So, despite the annoyances that nagging parents seemed to present, I guess now I have to admit they were right. Sometimes, things just have to get done.
