It was your senior year of high school, and while everyone was busy making arrangements to put a deposit down for their dream school, you were busy thinking about how many episodes on Netflix you could watch between school and work.
Going away to college just wasn't in the cards for you. Whether it be because of tuition, separation anxiety, or you just had a "WHAT DO I WANT TO DO WITH MY LIFE???" moment, your local community college catered to all of your needs.
While your friends were away at whatever university, a few things happened:
1. You realized you had a lot more time on your hands.
With all of your friends gone, there was no one to hang out with. So you adopted a dog, signed up for Netflix, Hulu, AND Amazon Prime, got two jobs, started volunteering with kids, took up an interest in crocheting, decided it was as good a time as ever to start going to the gym, and slept. A LOT.
2. Your co-workers became your new best friends.
You had similar interests, similar customers to complain about, similar work hours, and they probably also went to the same community college as you. Your co-workers became your new go-to friends when you needed a night out, and it actually turned out you guys became the best of friends.
3. You were always visiting your friends away at school.
You didn't even have to go away to college to reap the "going away to college" benefits. Every available weekend you had, you spent at a different University. In a way, you went to ALL THE COLLEGES. You made friends in high and low places, probably got a little too excited on a Friday night out in college town, and had to be carried back to campus by your friend's roommates that you had just met that same day. Your excuse being, "I don't get to do this every weekend!"
4. You started bringing your mom places with you.
"Hey mom, I have to go pick up some toothpaste at Target after class..... do you wanna come help me?" You realize that you HATE doing things alone, and when your friends aren't there, your mom always is. No matter how ridiculous the request, or how many days in a row you can go out for lunch, momma's just happy to be there because you FINALLY want to hang out with her.
5. You figured out who your real friends are.
Distance doesn't always make the heart grow fonder, so when everyone goes away to college it becomes pretty clear who's gonna be your friend through it all. These are the friends who keep you updated on the cute boy in their Political Science class and tell you horror stories about their nightmare roomies. While some people might go off to school, and lose connection with you, the gems in your life will make it a point to keep your relationship just as it was before they left. So when summer comes along, and everyone comes home from college, you know exactly who to call.
