What's worse than adulthood? Being stuck in between childhood and adulthood. Urban Dictionary describes this idea as, "kidulthood."
It's that moment when you realize that you cannot rent a car nor can you manage your Verizon wireless account without parental consent. But you can be stuck in thousands of dollars of student loans. It's the beauty of college. We may feel as though we have it all figured out. We have the responsibility of an adult. We all have bills of an adult. Much of the same workload. Heck, some of us have children. Although, we still struggle to get the respect, credibility and -- ultimately -- wallet of a 30 something adult.
I would describe this hell-like phase of life similar to purgatory. We have yet to reach the scary world of reality, but we are trapped between full-time schooling, a part-time job, and internships. I'll take the real world any day. Then there are the small, daily tasks.Take for instance your email, it is always full, half of these emails are important meetings to be scheduled, or questions to be answered. The other half are of the emails are the useless crap that you signed up for by accident when you wanted to get $2 off of a Yankee candle. Life is rough and time-consuming.
Senior year of college is when kidulthood is most apparent. College becomes much less of a party and more of an endless game that you are probably not #winning. Vacations are not much of an option, mostly because you are too busy paying for campus parking-- as if you had the time for a vacation. Relationships aren't always taken seriously because "it's college and no one wants to be tied down." Thanks a million Tinder.
Owning your dream car or home is going to have to wait. All you can do at this point is live in your apartment and make plans for your future. A lot of plans. Plans for when you might be able to buy that Mercedes SUV, plans for your future wedding, and more than likely, plans for when you can buy more than 10 items at a time at Whole Foods. It feels like a waiting game, one that requires a lot of effort, and a ton of patience.
We all hate the phase in life that is, kidulthood. The most important thing to remember when it comes to this phase is that it ends. The responsibility may still be there, but so is the credibility. Do your thing and keep treading along to get that degree. You have done your time and it will all be worth it in the end. Especially when you have a full-time salary and benefits.
Stay strong kids.
Signed,
Emotionally-Drained-College-Senior
