You've joked with your friends about getting older at 19 and 20 because being in college means you feel like your life is constantly going a million miles an hour. You can feel time pass you by but it's not until you're a junior that you feel some real changes in your life. Once you're an upperclassman, life is just different. It's not about getting instant respect from the young ones or finally declaring your major, you get an attitude change and your responsibilities just skyrocket. Think about it for a second.
You suddenly hate loud noises/ruckus/general disturbances to the peace.
If you live in a sorority or large house in which you live with a lot of people, door-slamming and screaming is no longer tolerable. It is obnoxious and you will passive aggressively shut things down without a second thought, even though not too long ago, you too used to come home from a Thursday night's merriment carrying the good time with you instead of leaving it at the party.
Your frat star days are behind you, and you start reminiscing like a grandma/grandpa.
In freshman year, you used to guzzle down Skol in five second pulls. Now look at you. When someone mentions Skol, your face scrunches up like you smelled three week old garbage and you're shaking your head like a baby avoiding being force-fed mashed peas. Hard pass on the cheap vodka served in a plastic bottle. Only classy liquor or delicious wine that tastes more like grape juice than actual wine is passing your lips because you're really over hating yourself when you drink. And you don't have to impress anybody anymore with how frat or hardcore you are with your drinking choices. Good riddance.
"Buy alcohol? Bro... I don't have a fake ID though. Haha PSYCH!!!"
Legally buying alcohol makes life easier but also more expensive. It's what a lot of your extra spending goes towards now. Mooching off the frat parties is still an option, but for pride, you buy your own stuff and also you want to drink what you like. The legality of the whole situation is a little underwhelming at first. There's no rush when buying your own drink. But on the upside you won't be booked for an MIP, just public intoxication!
"Bills, bills, bills... when the f$@& did I start having so many bills?!"
Adulting is hard, the hardest part has to be watching your hard-earned money go towards things you used to take for granted, like a roof over your head and food to eat. This stuff just used to come to you and now you have to pay for it or you might not have it anymore. What a life.
"Grad school? I just declared my major! I don't know what I want to do with my life!!"
Even if you're not graduating a year early like some of your friends, you still have really important decision ahead of you. Are you going to work after college? What kind of job? Are you going to grad school? What for? Where? Do I have good enough grades for that? It's a lot to think about, especially since there's rumors going around that having a college degree doesn't matter as much as it used to (WHAT!?!?!?) and you need to get a master's degree if you really want to make a living. But don't let rumors worry you, you have to find what makes you happy and excel at that.
You just want to stay inside, watch Netflix, and hope life works out.
A warm blanket is more comforting than a night out sometimes, especially when you have so much to worry about on a daily basis anyway. Taking time for yourself is great.
Just enjoy your time as a junior, one day at a time, or else you'll worry so much about missing out and growing old, that it'll happen sooner than you think. Living in the moments will help make days last longer and the jitters settle. So go out and enjoy the benefits of being an upperclassman!
