I’ve always dreamed of college life. As a little girl, I watched Elle Woods in Legally Blonde and waited for the day that I too, could pull out my furry pink pen in a university lecture hall. I made sure to tag along each time my three older siblings moved into their college dorms, feeling exceptionally jealous every time I brought in a new box of clothes I’d wished they had left behind.
I grew up with chronic youngest child syndrome. My two older sisters are closer in age to each other than they are to me. This meant they found themselves in the same friend groups, sharing inside jokes and many phases of life that I always seemed to arrive at, a bit too late.
I was bored of childhood. I ached for the freedoms and responsibilities that seemed to come with being older. Keeping my phone in my room at night, staying out later, hanging out with boyfriends in our basement. As a kid, I wanted that life. But by the time I got those things, my sisters were off galaventing on college campuses, chasing a version of adulthood that I still couldn’t quite reach.
Now, as a sophomore in college, buried under assignments, constant refreshing internship portals, and excessive Trader Joe’s frozen meals, it’s easy to forget that I’m living the exact life younger me was desperate to have.
So, in honor of her — the little girl who couldn’t wait to grow up — here are 5 parts of my college life that she would love.
- . Living In A House With 15 Girls
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In true UCSB fashion, I live in a house on Del Playa with 15 of my best friends. Living in IV, it’s easy to forget that squeezing over a dozen people into one house really isn’t normal. Much like the dollhouses that filled my childhood bedroom — always too small for the multiple Barbie dolls I would cram inside — my house is a life-sized version of that scene.
There’s always someone running down the hallway looking to borrow a going-out top and music blasting in one of our five different bedrooms. Little me, who desperately wanted to be included, would be in heaven.
- . A Constant Game Of Mermaids
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Growing up, my family spent most of our vacations trading our hometown of Chicago for the beach. While my siblings were content laying out, reading, or working on their tans, I found those tasks unbelievably boring. Instead, I’d spend hours in the hotel pool trying to recruit any girl my age to play mermaids (a game with relatively no plot, where you pretty much just pretend to have a tail).
Now, in Santa Barbara, the beach is practically my backyard. It’s never a challenge to convince one of my 15 roommates to go for an ocean dip before class. What used to feel as out of reach as spring or winter break, is now just a regular Tuesday.
- . Those Communications Girls From 2000’s Movies
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I grew up on movies like How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, 13 Going on 30, and The Devil Wears Prada. I worshiped the female leads for their glamorous jobs in the media industry. From Andi Anderson’s snarky magazine articles and Jenna Rink’s enlightened fashion publications to Andy Sachs’ constant racing around New York City, I wanted it all. I dreamed of walking into work each day in a Carrie Bradshaw-esque outfit, getting paid to write and tell stories. A life where journaling and putting on fashion shows in my bedroom could become a career? Sign me up.
In college, everything I do revolves around media. Whether it’s news reporting for my college radio station or creative writing for Her Campus, my life is centered on translating my ideas to pen and paper. Little me wouldn’t believe that my years of math tests and science labs are in the past, and that my current curriculum is mostly journalism and writing classes. As I prepare for my upcoming journalism internship in New York City this summer, I’ve been excitedly filling my closet with the sweaters, pencil skirts, and kitten heels (maybe not Manolos), that once filled my living room TV screen.
- . I’m Learning How To Cook!
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As a kid (and honestly, up until this year), my diet consisted strictly of pizza rolls, mac and cheese, and dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets. My family teased me, reminding me that meals from a kids’ menu were unsustainable for adult life. Miraculously, they lasted me 19 years.
Watching my roommates whip up Michelin star-worthy poke bowls, DIY pizzas, and steak dinners, finally convinced me that learning how to cook should be my next mission. I’ve branched out from my microwavable meals and started experimenting with the air fryer and oven. My current favorite dishes are cucumber salads and chicken salad. Of course, I still call my sisters to double-check if my ground beef is fully cooked, but progress is progress. Little me would be proud of the upgrade.
- . Moving to New York With My Sisters This Summer
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When both my sisters graduated and moved to New York City, I was seething with jealousy. In my head, they were living like Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, meeting every morning for coffee in the city that never sleeps. (In reality, they were grabbing bagels and sprinting to their investment banking and tech sales jobs).
This summer, I will be living in New York, joining my sisters in the city I’ve dreamed of since I was a little girl. Not only would little me be excited to live in the same city as them, but also to finally be operating at a similar stage of life.
This chapter of my life is full of questions — whether I’m taking the right classes, joining the right clubs, and having enough fun as everyone’s supposed to have in college. But, when I look at my college experience through the eyes of little me, it’s easier to see just how much she would love it.