Being a junior in college, I am still far from becoming an independent adult, and I still rely on my parents for many things. However, I am starting to get a taste of adulthood, and let’s be honest...it sucks.
What happened to nap time? What happened to coloring a picture and the only goal being to color in-between the lines? What happened to having recess?
Now, my life is full of stress, lack of sleep, and mounds of homework, papers, and meetings followed by cooking my own meals, figuring out when to do laundry, and problem solving in situations like the toilet clogging. The list goes on and on.
As little kids, we can’t wait to become adults, and as adults we would do anything to be kids again.
Growing up means having no money, and the money you do have goes towards college or food. Growing up means cooking your own meals and grocery shopping when you ran out of ideas about what to eat five weeks ago.
Growing up means making your own doctors appointments and not having your mom go with you to them.
Growing up sucks, and the responsibilities that come with it are even worse.
Being asked what you want to do after college is the most difficult question. The answer is inconceivable. The answer to that question? I have no idea. How am I supposed to choose what I want to do for the rest of my life when I can barely pick out my classes for next semester, let alone even find an internship in the field I want to go into?
How am I supposed to put my life together when I’m too busy doing homework, writing a paper, or going to meeting after meeting? Life is full of unanswered questions and, newsflash, I don’t know the answers.
I would rather just curl up in a ball, watch Netflix, and have my parents cook me dinner. But nope, that would be looked at as socially unacceptable and I would be looked at as a lazy grown-up child.
So, here is my warning to anyone out there who can’t wait to be a grown up: Stay young as long as possible.
Enjoy the summers of freedom, when you can go to the pool, get a nice tan, and catch fireflies at night. Soon you'll spend your summers working 40 hours a week, sleeping in your free time, and fitting all of your summer activities into two days of the week. Enjoy people asking you what college you want to go to, instead of what you want to do with your life. Enjoy everything that your parents do for you, because soon those home-cooked meals will turn into whatever you can find in you cabinets.
Most importantly be young while you can, and enjoy every minute of it.
