Dear Parents,

We still love you. 

Yes, we are growing. Yes, we are at a weird stage in our life where we are transitioning from living with you to on our own. We also realize that you are transitioning, just like us. 

We see your phone calls. We see your texts. We don’t always reply in a timely fashion, or even at all sometimes. This isn’t anything against you. We are just busy with school, life and figuring out the right balance. And by the way, thanks for still paying for our phone bill. Us broke college kids appreciate it. 

We are sorry about the weekends. You are probably worried about us, like any parents should be a little bit. Many of us drink, like most college students, but we do it around people we trust and in safe environments. We will be sure to be safe and smart, just like you taught us. But, we probably won’t be making curfew – not that we have one anyway. 

We appreciate your support in all we do. You might think we are just students who will graduate with crippling debt and our dreams aren’t what you pictured they would be – and that’s okay (mostly because it’s true). 

We are sorry about not visiting as much as we probably should. But you should know that we found good friends here – family in a sense. But, when we do visit, it’s mostly for the dog. We miss the dog a lot – maybe not as much as we miss you, but that’s okay, right? 

Just because we don’t visit doesn’t mean we don’t want to see you. We would love to host you in Brookings and show you around the town that we call home. We would love for you to experience a gameday, or even meet our friends that mean so much to us. 

With all the love in the world,

Your college student.