In the words of Taylor Swift, “It’s okay / Life is a tough crowd / 32 and still growin’ up now.” Being in college has made me realize how true this is. When I was younger college kids seemed so mature to me. I was sure that by the time I got there I would officially be an adult and have my life together. Well, that didn’t quite happen. Here I am in my second year of college, and I'm still pretty sure I wouldn’t make it on my own. Here are ten times when I realized just how far I have to go before I can really be an adult.
1. Doing laundry
I’ll be honest; my mom washed all of my clothes for me at home. This meant that the first month of college involved calling home every time I did laundry to ask whether I could wash my jeans with my dresses, and whether or not my sweaters go in the dryer.
2. When I was too scared to sleep in my dorm room alone
My roommate lives only a couple hours away, so every time she goes home for the weekend I scramble to find a friend to take her place so that I don’t have to sleep in our room by myself.
3. Going grocery shopping
I don’t know how adults do it, because going to the grocery store for me always takes about twice as long as planned. It involves wandering the aisles and, inevitably, having to make a trip to the other end of the store at least twice for something I forgot.
4. When I called my mom to ask if it was safe to use OxiClean in a bowl I eat out of
I mean I was pretty sure that it’d be okay as long as I rinsed the bowl out afterward, but on the off-chance that it might kill me, I figured I better ask first. (By the way, the answer is yes).
5. Cooking
Let’s face it, if it weren’t for dining halls I probably would have starved to death by now.
6. The 100 times I’ve left my ID card in my room
At my school, our ID cards are how we get into our residence halls, dorm rooms, and dining halls. So when I still manage to forget pretty much the most important thing I own on a regular basis, I don’t really foresee being able to manage adult responsibilities any time soon.
7. Killing bugs
I don’t care what people tell me. Bugs are scary, and I’m definitely not prepared for the time when I don’t have a roommate to share the inevitable, but terrifying, job of killing bugs with.
8. The time I started crying in the dining hall because I saw a dog
As every college student knows, seeing dogs on campus is a rarity and reminds you of your furry best friend you had to leave at home.
9. Doing the dishes (or not doing them)
Turns out that when you don’t wash your dishes for a week, they don’t come clean quite as easily.
10. The 5,000 times I called my mom for advice
Whether it’s friend, personal or school troubles, I can’t imagine not calling my mom almost every day to ask her how to deal with something.
Luckily for me, I have parents and friends who are willing to help me out because yes, I’m 19 and yes, I’m in college, but no, I’m not an adult yet.
