Adulting, the term used most often to describe the pains of growing up. Our parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and any other adult made it seem so easy being adults. They all made it seem like a dream, because they never showed us exactly how hard the responsibility could be. As kids, our job was to be… kids. To not grow up too fast, stay as young and innocent as long as possible, but we unfortunately do not live in Neverland. It is inevitable, but all of a sudden, we become the “big kids?”
In a blink of an eye, all of us are grown up and having responsibilities we never thought about a few years ago. There is an age where everybody crosses into and balances on a line between adult and child. Most twenty-something year olds are trying to understand what it actually means to “adult” without crashing and burning too much (I am one of them). Here are some “big kid” things I have learned by almost crashing and falling flat on my face.
College is not all it was cracked up to be. Don’t get me wrong, the freedom is amazing, classes are more tailored to what I like (and to be honest what I am actually good at), and not being stationed, or chained, to a desk for 7 to 8 hours straight is awesome. With every good thing, there must be some bad. With more freedom, comes more responsibility… and more stupidity. Procrastinating on a paper that is due at 9am that next morning is NEVER A GOOD IDEA!! Chocolate is also not considered an actual meal. Going to get food and use a meal swipe is a more responsible thing to do, but not always ideal. Also, making a choice to binge watch Grey’s Anatomy might seem like a great idea, but it really just feeds the procrastination.
“Flying the coup” might seem a lot easier with on campus housing. Living on campus is a luxury, even if it does not seem like it at the time. All utilities are paid for, never have to worry about starving to death because of a meal plan (even though the food sometimes makes you want to starve) and there is no need of worrying about if the rent check will be sent on time. Living on campus gives us the feel of actually adulting without really adulting… Just push back being an adult as much as you can while you have time.
Let me tell you, apartment hunting is not as stress free as those HGTV shows portray. It is difficult, conflicting and a bit overwhelming. Apartment hunting is like trying on prom dresses. You cannot find the “one” right off the bat. And even if you do fall madly in love with the first dress, Mom will be on the other side of that dressing room with five gowns to try on… Just in case. That apartment might be the cheapest, but feeling comfortable and being okay with renting that cheap apartment should be more important than the price.
The world seems much bleaker and a lot less of a dream now that we are turning into adults. Not every person is going to like you, everything costs money, everybody is either getting married or pregnant, it is almost time to actually start looking for a big kid job (or internship). Family vacations are becoming nonexistent, even seeing family has started to become less and less.
Adulting seems much more of a reality and is much closer than being a kid. We still have a lot to learn and a lot of life to live. Being a “big kid” might not be as bad as we think… (even though we secretly still wish Neverland existed).