Just like me, many of you will be leaving school and entering the real world to fend for yourselves soon. Some of you might say that adulthood started when you got to college, but ask yourself a couple questions first. Do you sleep in past 1 p.m. on some days? Do you only resort to doing laundry when you run out of underwear? If this sounds like you, then you are not an adult yet. My point is that in college, you can still be a kid. I graduate in less than a week, and I still find myself looking for an "adult" (meaning someone that looks like he or she could have raised a child to my age) when I am lost in an airport or can't find the cereal aisle. And so, here are some parts of adult life that those of us new to adulthood are just now starting (or failing) to comprehend.
1. Finding a job.
Whether you're looking for some money to spend on the weekends, trying to pay for college or make a living after college, I know there is a 90s kid reading this that desperately needs a job. Keep your chin up, you'll find one.
2. Working a job you hate.
Maybe you've found a job waiting tables a few nights a week or you just graduated and can't stand the job you took post-grad. You want to quit, but you love money too much and getting over item number one from this list was such a tall mountain to climb.
3. Managing your money.
My accounting skills end at making sure my rent and bills are paid. Beyond that, I might as well be keeping my money in pillow cases hidden under my bed because I've got no idea where to put the rest of it. And I still have a brief moment of terror when I hand my debit card to a cashier, hoping there's enough on it to get my McFlurry.
4. The red Solo cup versus real cup debacle.
Dishes are a nightmare, but so is taking out the trash and spending money on stacks of disposable flatware and utensils. If your living arrangement doesn't have a working dishwasher, God be with you.
5. Being older than today's celebrities.
It's 2 p.m., I'm in my underwear, I haven't showered, and I'm 23 years old. Meanwhile, there are kids out there more than a few years younger than me who are catching game winning NFL touchdown passes, dunking over NBA legends, selling out concert arenas, and raking in more dough than I'll likely ever see in my natural born life.
6. Understanding what it's like to be a little kid in 2015.
I don't know how you parents out there can do it. The average 10-year-old of 2015 knows how to use a pocket sized computer almost as well as the geniuses that designed it. The average 10-year-old of 2002 sort of knew about this thing called the Internet, and sort of just wanted to climb a tree instead of worry about it.
7. Dealing with the fact that people your age are getting married and having kids.
You've seen it on your social media feeds, and it terrifies you. If you are one of these accelerated people, my hat goes off to you. You're truly a pioneer of our generation and I thank you for giving the rest of us a chance to observe you from a far while we're busy forgetting to turn the oven off after toasting a bagel at two in the morning following a night of heavy drinking.
8. Paying for rent, gas, or food first.
You need gas to go grocery shopping, but you need money to buy food. But if you buy either of those before paying rent, you might not have a place to eat next month. Perhaps you should forget all three and move to a remote island where rent is cheap, no roads exist, and coconuts are free and plenty.
9. Dealing with the realization that you'll never have another spring break again in your life.
Let us all take a moment of silence and shed a tear for the the weeklong torrent of partying, sunscreen, salt water and the inescapable grains of sand that you find in your ears during lecture when class resumes. RIP spring break.
10. Realizing that summer is just another three months of the year.
It's okay to cry, don't be ashamed. Maybe you'll have a desk near a window and will be able to catch a few rays reflected from your computer screen. There's always lunch breaks, too.
11. Resisting the urge to ball out on the most luxurious and expensive toilet paper money can buy.
With the luxuries of your childhood falling apart around you, the value of little things like nice toilet paper cannot be underestimated. The same goes for effective paper towels.
12. Wearing your coat inside or turning on the heat.
My roommate and I have made it midway through December without turning on our heat and consider it one of our proudest victories. Mother nature does not rule our lives. And with the multi-family size bag of Charmin Ultra-Soft bath tissue we have in the hallway closet, cuts have to be made somewhere in order to accommodate our lavish lifestyle.
13. Letting go of your past and focusing on building a bright future for you and the family you hope to have someday.
I'm nearly the same age that my mother was when she gave birth to me in 1992, and I've thoroughly enjoyed the last 23 years that my parents have given me. Soon (but not too soon), my life will start to come full circle when I bring my own children into this world.
Yes, adulthood is scary. But you've made it this far, and you owe it to everyone that helped you get to where you are now to press on and do good things. There is only one certainty in life: it goes on.
