It’s a fairly universally accepted fact that individuals between the ages of 18 and 22 are, in theory, adults. However, those actually within that bracket understand that being considered a member of adulthood on paper is a far cry from the reality of their lifestyle. In many ways, college students are in an awkward kind of limbo—we go to school where we raise our hands to use the restroom yet live in an autonomous world where we buy groceries to {attempt to} cook for ourselves. In short, college is the period of semi-adulthood that has both perks and detriments. Here are eight things that everyone in adult limbo know to be true:
1. Cooking "real" meals is a huge accomplishment
A departure from the usual ramen, cereal, pizza or any premade frozen item for dinner is cause to pat yourself on the back and call your mom to inform her that yes, you did make her famous casserole recipe—and no, it wasn’t the same. Still, you’re feeling pretty adult right about now.
2. Doctors appointments bring back your inner fifth-grader
The quasi-adult still has a lot to learn, and this is all too obvious when the yearly doctor’s trip rolls around. You try to be nonchalant as you call your mom—“how do I make this appointment, exactly?”—but we all know how the conversation ends. Sure, you make your own appointments. We believe you…
3. A weekend at home is a time machine
It’s amazing how a few years of living on your own completely crumbles in the face of your mom’s cooking, nights in your childhood bedroom, and fighting with your high school sister for the car keys. Some things never change.
4. Kid's table for life
You are older, wiser and vastly more mature than that one Christmas Eve when you played a prank on your grandma with your cousins. Yet it seems that in the eyes of your grandparents, aunts and uncles at family gatherings, you are the same undeveloped teenager from holidays past, and have a very hard time being treated as an adult. You wonder when the days of being at the kids’ table for Thanksgiving will come to an end. At the same time, you don’t really mind, because adult conversations are boring.
5. You've never seen your phone bill
How long is it acceptable to stay on our parents’ phone plan? We don’t want to know. But deep down, we realize this is an implicit barrier dividing us from the real adults.
6. Your biggest stress of the week is an essay
We may not have bills, but we’ve got deadlines. And philosophy papers to write at 2 a.m. We can’t imagine having more responsibility than that.
7. The world of careers, 401Ks and marriage is still labeled the distant "Future" in your mind
You may be in your 20s, but you still daydream about your job, potential spouse and life after college like you did when you were in sixth grade playing MASH with your friends. There is no sense of urgency, because well, you’ll cross that bridge when you get to it, right?
8. You are now convinced your parents are superheroes
You always suspected that your parents were awesome, but now that you’re trying your hand at adulthood you have an infinitely new level of respect for them. How did your mom manage to get four children between the ages of infanthood and 5 to the doctor? How did your dad know to invest in the stock market in college? And how does your mom know where everything in the house is at all times without so much as glancing upwards? It’s definitely magic, and all you can hope for is that some of it will rub off on you. One day…
