I think going away to college and living on campus is about the healthiest thing a young person can do. I did it.

A problem you have is college is waaaay more expensive than when I was your age. I financed the whole thing myself, and it didn't leave me with huge, enormous debt. I paid it off in a few years.

A bigger problem you have is you are not all that independent. So it would be hard for you to do without all the help at home. When I lived in a dorm, I literally knew what it was to be hungry some weekends. But it was still worth it to be out away from home.

Your parents seem to kind of want you dependent. Your father is keeping up a spare apartment for one of his children to move into . . . someday. That's the craziest thing I ever heard of.

If you really want independence from your parents, you can find a way. What's hard, I think, is that you are pretty conflicted about what you want. To get anything in life, we have to give up something. I think you are having trouble with that concept.