It is my very last fall semester at FSU, and it couldn’t be more bittersweet. I’m feeling so nostalgic because apart of me doesn’t want to grow up and join the real world, and the other part is teeming with all of the incredible ideas I have for things to do once I graduate.
I came into this semester SO excited to take my classes because they all sounded interesting and actually worth my time (unlike those ridiculous prerequisites). So I walk into m philosophy class on Tuesday of syllabus week, thinking the room would be filled with familiar faces from all of the past philosophy classes I’ve taken. But, to my surprise, every face looked brand new. And when I say brand new, I mean untouched by the outrageous, stressful, wild and sometimes disturbing years of college. They all looked like they just graduated high school.
When I look around and realize everyone is four years younger than me…
I contemplate whether or not I’m in the right classroom.
Then the professor asks, “How many of you are freshmen?” And 85% of the class raises their hands.
And that’s about the time I start wondering, “Why did my advisor recommend I take this?”
But then it gets better. The professor asks the class, “And how many of you have taken a philosophy class before?” I’m one of two people who raises their hand.
So that was pretty much me, just 20 years older.
I feel like by now, most people are thinking, “Why aren’t you happy about being in a freshman class? Doesn’t that mean it’ll be easier?”
The answer is, well, no. It’s a philosophy class so they’re never “easy.” And also, I’m just the badass type of person who enjoys a challenge. So…
The bottom line is, I just want to be with people of my same age and experience, ya know?
We’d have the same number of college years under our belt, and probably would be able to complain and rejoice over the same professors together.
Then again, I am surrounded by a classroom full of (new) fellow Seminoles, at a school with an envious amount of team spirit…
…as well as an awesome faculty.
So am I really the odd one out?
(Maybe a little, but after I make some new friends? Maybe not.)
This semester, I’ll take a deep breath and swallow my senior status pride. In the meantime, I might as well take some new tribe members under my wing and show them the ropes of how to survive a 75-minute philosophy class twice a week.
“…I’m a cool mom.”
So here’s to me looking on the bright side of things, and to making a conscious effort to not feel so alienated in a class of young, brilliant freshmen (and sophomore) minds.
Have a fantastic fall semester, my fellow Collegiettes!