I'm more nervous about turning 20 than I should be.

Turning 20 Feels Wrong And I'm Not Ready

It's three months away, but I'm about to be an adult and I'm not ready.

Katherine Reardon
Katherine Reardon Apr 23, 2019
27
views

I'm going to be twenty in a few months. It's still a little while away, just under three months, but I think it's starting to sink in for me that I am going to be twenty in a few months. I won't be a teenager, anymore, and I will no longer be able to blame everything that I do on the fact that I am a teenager and therefore immature. Instead, I am going to be twenty years old and in the same decade as people that are married and having children and people that have real jobs and are trying to really live their lives. People in their twenties are more of adults than people in their teen years. A nineteen-year-old isn't an adult, not really, but a 23-year-old is. At least, someone in their twenties is more of an adult to me. I don't feel like a full-fledged adult, not yet, and I'm sure that plenty of nineteen-year-olds feel the same way.

Twenty seems different, it seems like I'm going to be at the point where I have to actually think of my life for real.

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My twenties feel like they are going to be the decade filled with disappoint meant in a different way that my teenage years were and filled with success in the same way that my teenage years were. I have thoughts, as to how my twenties should go, because my twenties are the decades where I'm supposed to do all of the important things that people and my teenage years weren't for that. My twenties are supposed to be this all-important decade where I really, truly start to grow up so of course, they'll let me down at some point. My twenties are coming, and I'm hyping them up so much that I'm freaking out about them three months before they're actually coming.

My sister turned eighteen last week, and I think that it might be because I don't feel like I'm old enough to have a sister that became an adult. I'm not really an adult yet myself, it feels like, but it seems like I've got to get on that sometime soon. If my younger sister becomes an adult, then my younger brother will become an adult, and then suddenly we'll all be adults but maybe I still won't feel like one. I don't know, maybe I just need to take a deep breath and keep rolling with it all, but that seems pretty hard right now. If this is me freaking out about twenty right now, I feel bad for everyone who'll be near me for the first two weeks of July.

Katherine Reardon
Katherine Reardon Apr 23, 2019
At University of Maine

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10 Things I Threw Out AFTER Freshman Year Of College

Guess half the stuff on your packing list doesn't really matter
Gabby Florio
Gabby Florio Aug 6, 2017
325166
views

I spent the entire summer before my freshman year of college so WORRIED.

I also spent most of my money that summer on miscellaneous dorm stuff. I packed the car when the time finally came to move in, and spent the drive up excited and confused about what the heck was actually going on.

Freshman year came and went, and as I get ready to go back to school in just a few short weeks (!!), I'm starting to realize there's just a whole bunch of crap I just don't need.

After freshman year, I threw out:

1. Half my wardrobe.

I don't really know what I was thinking of owning 13 sweaters and 25 T-shirts in the first place. I wear the same five T-shirts until I magically find a new one that I probably got for free, and I put on jeans maybe four times. One pair is enough.

2. Half my makeup.

Following in the theme of #1, if I put on makeup, it's the same eyeliner-mascara combination as always. Sometimes I spice it up and add lipstick or eyeshadow.

3. My vacuum.

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One, I basically never did it. Two, if I REALLY needed to vacuum, dorms rent out cleaning supplies.

4. Most of my photos from high school.

I didn't throw them ALL away, but most of them won't be making a return to college. Things change, people change, your friends change. And that's okay.

5. Excess school supplies.

Binders are heavy and I am lazy. I surprisingly didn't lose that many pens, so I don't need the fifty pack anymore. I could probably do without the crayons.

6. Cups/Plates/Bowls/Silverware.

Again, I am lazy. I cannot be bothered to wash dishes that often. I'll stick to water bottles and maybe one coffee cup. Paper plates/bowls can always be bought, and plastic silverware can always be stolen from different places on campus.

7. Books.

I love to read, but I really don't understand why I thought I'd have the time to actually do it. I think I read one book all year, and that's just a maybe.

8. A sewing kit.

I don't even know how to sew.

9. Excessive decorations.

It's nice to make your space feel a little more cozy, but not every inch of the wall needs to be covered.

10. Throw pillows.

At night, these cute little pillows just got tossed to the floor, and they'd sit there for days if I didn't make my bed.

Cover Image Credit: Tumblr
Gabby Florio
Gabby Florio Aug 6, 2017
At Boston University

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I'm Not The Person I Was In High School And I'm Not Sorry I Changed

I'm sorry, the old me can't come to the phone right now.

graciedough
graciedough May 19, 2019
78
views

If those who knew me in high school hung out with me now, they probably wouldn't recognize me. If my friends from college hung out with me around two years ago, they probably wouldn't recognize me. It's safe to say I've changed... a lot. I definitely find the change to be for the better and I couldn't be happier with the person I've become

In high school, I would sit at home every night anxiously waiting to leave and go out. Now, honestly, going out is the last thing I want to do any night of the week. While everyone in college is at a fraternity party or at the bars, I prefer to sit at home on the couch, watching Netflix with my boyfriend. That's an ideal night for me and it is exactly the opposite of what I wanted to do a couple of years ago. There's nothing wrong with going out and partying, it's just not what I want to do anymore.

I craved attention in high school. I went to the parties and outings so I could be in Snapchats and photos, just so people would know I was there. I hung out with certain groups of people just so I could say I was "friends" with so-and-so who was so very popular. I wanted to be known and I wanted to be cool.

Now, I couldn't care less. I go to the bars or the parties if I really feel like it or if my friends make me feel bad enough for never going anywhere that I finally decide to show up. It's just not my scene anymore and I no longer worry about missing out.

If you could look back at me during my junior year of high school, you probably would've found me searching for the best-ranked party schools and colleges with the best nearby clubs or bars. Now, you can find me eating snacks on the couch on a Friday night watching the parties through other peoples' Snapchats.

Some may say that I'm boring now, and while I agree that my life is a little less adventurous now than it was in high school, I don't regret the lifestyle changes I've made. I feel happier, I feel like a better person, I feel much more complete. I'm not sorry that I've changed since high school and I'm not sorry that I'm not living the typical "college lifestyle." I don't see anything wrong with that life, it's just not what makes me happy and it's not what I want to do anymore.

I've become a different person since high school and I couldn't be happier about it. I have a lot that's contributed to the change, but my boyfriend definitely was the main factor as he showed me that staying in can be a million times better than a night out. My interests and my social cravings have completely transitioned into that of an 80-year-old grandma, but I don't regret it.

Change doesn't have to be a bad thing. In fact, it can bring a lot more happiness and comfort. The transition from high school to college is drastic, but you can also use it as an opportunity to transition from one lifestyle to another. I don't regret the lifestyle flip I made and I couldn't be less apologetic about it.

graciedough
graciedough May 19, 2019
At Florida Gulf Coast University

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