After a nice long year of college, it seems that most people are happy to go home and spend their time with a part-time job or just sleeping in until noon every day. Maybe that was how we spent our time in high school and before, but we are getting older now. We aren't always going to have our summers off.

While everyone else is spending their time catching up with high school friends, I'm staying at college to get some summer classes in. It sounds like I must be crazy to want to live four and a half hours away from home and not even have my new college friends around to keep me company, but I think this is one of the better of the decisions I've made in the last few years.

First off, I am getting the chance to experience the real world, but still, have something to fall back on.

When deciding to stay in Pittsburgh, I had to find a place to sublet and a job to pay the rent. I told myself that if I found a way to make enough money to live reasonably, I would stay the summer here. I can't tell you guys enough how glad I am to only have to worry about paying rent and food. I don't have any other bills that really concern me much. I'm not fully on my own yet; my family still helps me out and pays my phone bill and things like that. I am experiencing something that I don't think I would get the chance to do if it weren't for renting a place before moving on with my life post-graduation.

It's different from living off campus during the regular school year too.

During the regular year, there is still a strong support system on campus. There are a lot of clubs and activities and most people have some sort of dining plan. During the summer, there is none of that. Okay, technically there is a meal plan, but I don't spend enough time on campus to really benefit from eating there every day.

I am getting to know so much more about how to be a real adult.

We consider 18 to be an adult, but I don't think I've met anyone under 23 who really has their life together and can function with the rest of society. I think that spending the summer away is going to let me learn more than just what my classes will teach me. Already, when I went grocery shopping for the first time, I realized how weird it was to shop for everything you might need to cook your own meals. Also, there is the whole consideration of shopping for just one person that is a little strange if you aren't used to it.

I'm not working at some place around the corner from my hometown either. I have to actually put in an effort and make sure I'm getting hours in so that I can pay rent. Working for some pocket cash is one thing, but making sure that you aren't going to starve next week is another. I've learned that seeing it through that the bills get paid and I have money left over to feed myself with is one of the hardest things that you absolutely must do.

It's these sorts of things that you have to be able to do before you plunge head first into the real adult world.

As college students, we may think that we know what we are doing with our lives. It's easy to say, "I'm going to get my degree and then get a job and an apartment and a car," but in reality it is much harder than that. Learning how to budget and pay to live is so important.