Last year, my Big would always talk about being a "SWUG." And ever the dutiful Little, I would respond that "no, she was not" and that "yes, she had it equally together and was as productive as ever." However, even two weeks into my senior year, I have come to realize that the SWUG life is more of a state of mind and less of an outward appearance.
For those of you who don’t know, the term “SWUG" stands for Senior Washed Up Girl (or guy). Now obviously this appears to carry some negative connotations. I mean, honestly who has ever called someone washed up and meant anything good or positive by it? But, like senioritis, I would not say that being a SWUG is necessarily a bad thing.
Above all, being a SWUG describes a certain level of acceptance of your current position in life. You’ve got three years of college behind you, and most things that were super interesting and exciting about college life are not exciting anymore. Going out is a blur because, let’s be real, how many ~crazy~ things are happening these days that you haven’t already embarrassed yourself with? You find yourself reminiscing about the ridiculous things you did as an underclassman and wondering how in the world you thought any of that was acceptable (Ex. The ever-hip lanyard around the neck). You also probably have some sort of accepted “uniform” for class, and getting ready to go out is no longer the event it once was.
The other side of the SWUG life is the overwhelming astonishment you feel towards freshmen. Whether it's girls who wake up an extra hour and a half early to put on their cutest outfit for class, or boys at parties trying to convince you that they are anything but freshmen, you will constantly find yourself shaking your head in disbelief. You know in your heart that you were once them and should sympathize, but in your head you can't help but wish they would just leave you to your routine and let you bask in your old age.
Whether or not this level of acceptance and astonishment is a good thing, I think almost every senior will find him or herself feeling this way at some point during the semester. We should all remember that everyone before us, after us, and around us is probably feeling similarly. So this year, just keep in mind that you didn’t choose the SWUG life, the SWUG life chose you.
