Are you there God? It’s me, Molly.
Thank you for letting me live in Orlando which is hosting the absolute best concerts in the next few months. That being said, thank you for Mumford and Sons graciously picking Florida as a stop on their tour thus making all of my wildest musical dreams come true. Thank you for Publix, because I am a broke college student and Publix BOGO section is straight up of the heavens. Thank you for this summer.
A summer spent truly living. Falling in love with Detroit as I wandered the nooks of its graffitied alleyways and watched the sun set over a Tigers game. I explored the streets of Savannah with my best friend by my side and a glass bottle coke in my hand. I danced and laughed and smiled so much it hurt, under twinkling lights with friends who quickly and effortlessly became family. I watched a meteor shower in a hot tub on the side of a Colorado mountain. I met people it felt like my entire 20 years had been waiting for. I came home to people my last 20 years would’ve been nothing without. I had eye contact with my future husband, Nick Jonas. He gave me the peace sign. It was no small deal.
It all felt like a really good dream. That I (unfortunately) had to wake up from. On the wrong side of the bed, running late, on a bad hair day. Into a world with a latex-clad Miley Cyrus twerking on giant teddy bears, a rising conflict with Syria, my air conditioning (among other things) busted in my car and entirely too much humidity. Reality checks, yuck. No thank you, sir.
I understand we’re already a few weeks into school but is it okay if I’m still not actually “into” it? I’m suffering from a severe case of the back-to-school blues.
I’ve already had 3 quizzes! It’s at least a thousand degrees outside! I forgot my new webcourses password again! Too many knight/night puns! The always awkward “introduce yourself and get to know your classmates” part of the first couple of weeks? Punch me in the face. Impossibly trying to find a parking spot on campus? Punch me in the face again but harder this time! I cringe every time I think about my alarm going off and heading into lab. I forgot how to write and study and brush my hair. I think the patriarchal theory of psychoanalysis in the feminist film theory is… wait, what?! Exactly.
This summer I may not have magically learned how to suddenly care about statistics but I can line dance and do pretty decent nail art on the tiny fingernails of precious 4 year olds. I may not have gotten any school credits or saved any money but I did travel and adventure and learn a lot about myself and life in general. I may have lost my sense of reality but I gained a pretty freakin’ awesome one instead. Why doesn’t that count for anything?!
Granted, there were plenty of things I missed about being at school. My rockin’ friends, Kyoto’s lunch special, UCF games and tailgates, driving by the men’s soccer team practice on my way to class, the cold of the communications building and the coolness of the technology commons. (You heard it here first, the technology commons is the best kept secret on campus. It’s like Lizzie McGuire’s Digital Bean. You’re welcome.) Kudos, God. I am so thankful for those things. Now just help me to focus on those awesome things to help get me out of this back-to-school blues.