Senior year of college is a roller coaster ride. There are a lot of really fantastic highs...and there are some really awful lows that usually occur when something ripples the nice bubble of denial we've been carefully cultivating. The real world is so close now that we can count the months until graduation on one hand. This realization is equal parts exciting, promising and alive with the opportunity to finally chase the dreams we've been working toward, and absolutely, utterly terrifying.
College is all about learning and preparing to live in the real world. Until now the real world has been only a figment of our imaginations, but now that it's so close, I'm beginning to see how college has prepared me for it.
10. The prospect of living alone is not so daunting.
I love my roommates dearly. I have three, and I've lived with one of them for three years in a row. Moving out this summer, knowing I won't live with them anymore, is going to be sad, and I'll probably need some wine and romantic-comedies to get through it. After living in two dorm rooms and four apartments in four years (one of which was in Washington state and another in Florence, Italy) with different roommates for each move...I won't be upset to finally be able to stop moving my stuff from home to dorm to home to apartment to my friend's house for storage to a new apartment...you get the picture. I also won't be upset to be able to do whatever I want in a space all my own. Leave my laundry in the dryer for three days until I can fold it? Sure, why not? No one else will have to use that dryer!
9. I want a pet.
The prospect of living alone with the freedom to abandon my laundry and decorate a whole apartment by myself without the complex's mediocre furniture may be exciting, but the idea of coming home to a completely empty house after work every day is kind of sad. I may be ready to live on my own, but that doesn't mean total desolation. I'm going to need a friendly furry face or two running around the house to keep me company and to cuddle up with on lonely nights. Besides, pets are like the practice round for having a family, right? Not ready for a hubby or kids yet, but a dog? I can handle a dog and all the responsibilities that come with one...I hope...and maybe a cat.
8. I'm over school.
This is a no-brainer. I don't think anyone overly enjoys studying. But, no, like, I mean it. I'm. So. Done. Completing 15.5 years of schooling at this point seems utterly ridiculous. Let's chat about this Mr. President, let's make it like 10 years. That sounds a little better. We can negotiate the terms while I avoid studying my final semester. While I probably sound like a burn out or a lazy senior...please check my high school yearbook and my first years of college for proof of my former I-have-to-make-all-A's attitude. I can count the number of B's (and that one C I made junior year I'm still bitter about) I made in college and high school on one hand. My plea is not out of hatred of learning, it's that I want to learn useful stuff now! For my job!
7. After graduation, I won't keep in touch with all of my friends I have now.
If you know me, you're probably a little impressed I'm admitting that I do, in fact, know this to be true. I hate change. I welcome change, and in a weird way it excites me, but before I get excited I hate it, I dread it and I inwardly pout that I can't make things go the way I want them. In this case, it would be to pack all of my friends up with my the rest of my belongings and haul them with me to wherever life takes me next. Sadly, this can't happen. However, through the hardest times in college and the best ones, I've come to learn with 100 percent certainty what my mom always told me and what I never completely understood until now, "Those people who are supposed to be in your life will be. Those who aren't won't be." Simple as that. Now, I've got some pretty amazing friends who've been around for some trying times. I may not keep in touch with all of you, but that doesn't negate the friendship in the semester we have left.
6. It's OK to prioritize people over school.
This past semester, more than any other, I said yes to as many things as I could: parties, going downtown, pajama nights at my best friend's house, midnight Wal-Mart runs with my roommates that always included an incredibly long route home so we could jam to '90s songs longer. It hit me in August that this was the last time I'd be able to do some of these things without thinking, so I did them regardless of whether that paper that was due the next day wasn't quite finished yet. Were there mornings I got up extra early or afternoons I ran around like a madman to finish my school work? For sure, but I knew that one day I'd look back and remember laughing with my friends, not stressing about that one thing in my paper I forgot to edit.
5. It's now or never.
For me, this semester tied up several loose ends that have made my life much easier and more enjoyable. Maybe it was realizing that it's senior year or maybe it's that I've learned a lot in the past couple of years through working, living far away and taking on more jobs at school and higher positions in my student organizations, but whatever the reason, I've learned this year to say what I want to say and to say it now. Waiting months and years for the "right moment" to get something off your chest is tiring, and there is no such thing as the "right moment" anyway. Even though I shy away from confrontation and hate change, I've learned the best thing sometimes is to say what you feel with as much honesty and confidence as you can and let life do the rest. I'm not saying it's easy, but it's definitely worth it.
4. Job hunting is like politics and it sucks.
There are a lot of unwritten rules to interviewing for a job. First, you must look the part. From your hair (straight is better than curly) to your makeup (forget the winged eyeliner you go for everyday) to your outfit (nothing loud, wear neutral tones, keep it boring) to your jewelry (I have seven ear piercings. If I don't take them out can I still be considered for the job?) to your fingernails (OMG, are your nails black?) to your shoes (leopard print? Ugh, stripper heels), everything is under scrutiny. That's before they look at your resume, before they hear you talk, before you have to answer their questions and before they know much about you as a person. It's very face and paper-value and clearly, it irks me deeply.
3. Quieter bars are more fun.
There was a time in my college career that I liked going to the crowded bar to dance (horribly) with my friends, to not sit down until I got home and to have the music blaring so loud my ears were still ringing two hours later. And, from time to time, this is still insanely fun on the proper occasion, but for the most part these days, I like going to the bars with a lot of tables where I can sit down, people watch and have a few beers with my friends, who I can actually talk to without screaming. Still fun, still a great time, but probably a little more grown up. At least I think so.
2. No matter what you say to the contrary, there is pressure to be in a relationship when everyone you know starts to get engaged.
Ah, Facebook. That glorious tool that used to be a joyous way to keep up with your old friends' lives but now just serves as a constant reminder of how alone you are while those old friends have their lives so together that they've put a ring on it. Seriously, I think I know at least a dozen couples who got engaged over Christmas break alone. Suddenly, it seems that almost all of my friends are in relationships...except for maybe two of them. My friends and I have started talking about all the people we know who are getting married, and I can't tell you how many times since August my not-single friends and relatives have told me, "You don't need a boyfriend right now anyway." Even though this is true, and I'm perfectly happy single, you can't not feel a little envious of that kind of love and commitment when you're the single friend watching all your friends pair off. While I do not have any desire to get engaged any time soon even if I had a boyfriend, the pressure is there in the back of your mind as you make all these other huge life decisions: who you want to work for, where you want to live, what you want to do. Marriage is a part of this very adult world we're about to jump into, so of course it's something you're thinking about in the back of your mind. While everyone tells you that you don't need a boyfriend, know that they're right, but also that it's OK to want one and to feel the pressure even if a ring isn't what you want. I'm pretty sure it's natural...at least I hope.
1. It's going to end.
We knew it the day we started college, but it doesn't really feel real until it's actually real. The reality will hit you at weird random times that will make you thank the Lord above it'll finally be over while also hoping you don't cry at the thought. Senior year is an interesting one, full of uncertainty, change and doubts. Suddenly we're going to have to be adults. While I can honestly say I'm really ready to be done with college and see what life has in store for me next, I will severely miss the life I've made here. Columbia was the first city I ever made my home without having my family around, and all of my friends here are the the first family of friends I've ever leaned on so heavily. It's hard to believe it'll be over soon, but it will. So seniors, live it up for one more round. Cheers to 8/8!
