This past week, the song "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" randomly came up on the Spotify playlist I was listening to. As I hummed along, I was reminded of my favorite childhood movie, the great classic "The Wizard of Oz." Reflecting back on the movie, I came to the realization that college students and their lives have a lot in common with Dorothy and her journey to the Emerald Palace. Here are 10 ways college is like "The Wizard of Oz":
1. Wishing you could click your heels to go home for a bit
Don't get me wrong, college life is fabulous. But there's always that point in the semester where nothing would make you happier than to eat a home-cooked meal, sleep in your own bed, and shower in a private bathroom. Some magical ruby red would be very handy at times like these. There really is no placed like home!
2. Praying for a brain like the Scarecrow
During Finals Week, never have I related to Scarecrow more. I would gladly march to an Emerald City to beg a wizard for a brain if it meant I could pass statistics.
3. Drunk Friends = The Munchkins
The perfect combination of funny, annoying, and lovable, the Munchkins are everyone's favorite drunk friends.
4. When you secretly borrow clothes from your roommate
Because when that one piece of clothing (LIKE RUBY RED SLIPPERS) just calls to you from the opposite closet, you got to do what you got to do. Whoops.
5. Your mom is the Glenda to your Dorothy
Between the clutch care packages, the hour long phone calls, and the rock solid advice, college is the time when you realize your is 100% Glenda the Good Witch.
6. You experience the enchanted poppy field every day in your 8:00 AM
You wish you looked as beautiful as Dorothy when you doze off in your 8:00 AM economics class.
7. "Papers and Studying and Presentations, OH MY!"
The college workload at times can be scarier than lions and tigers and bears all combined. Oh my indeed!
8. Having Tuesday/Thursday classes in that old building without A/C
You can't help but turn into a witch when you have to sit in a 500-degree room listening to your ancient professor drone on about some insanely complex concept for 75 dreadfully hot minutes.
9. Going to office hours to beg your professor to help out your grade
Professors can literally be like wizards in office hours. While they might seem larger-than-life in class, office hours is like pulling back that curtain and realizing that they're just normal people trying to help.
10. Realizing that college is your own personal Emerald City
College is a place like no other. It truly is like something over the rainbow. Some of the best years of your life happen here, and like Dorothy in Oz, college is a life-changing journey where you develop your brain, find love, and gather courage to face the world. And hopefully you get some sparkly ruby red slippers out of it too!