3 Things I Miss About College

Next May will mark 10 years since I graduated college. I cannot even believe that I'm that old. I don't feel old and I know in a life of 70-75 years I'm actually not even half way done. But in these times of political uncertainty and general doom and gloom I find myself looking back at happier times, even if they were during the W. Bush years.

#1 All your favorite people are just a few steps away

This is the BIGGEST thing I miss about college. When you live on campus everyone you know is just a few floor away or best of all down the hall. When you go to dinner, you run into other people you like and then when you go take a shower it's a group affair (not in a sexy way, at least in my experience). All the general boring things that you have to do you get to do with FRIENDS! Luckily, in my current life I still get to do a lot of the same stuff with the same person I was doing all that stuff with back then. But still there are many more friends that are are across the city, across the bay or worst across the state and country.

#2 You never have to cook

This is a double edged sword for me because I was always a little stressed about having an allergy attack since I didn't know quite what was in all the food I ate. Plus the bagel area was like a peanut butter massacre. The great thing about living on campus for 4 years was the fact that I didn't have to meal plan, manage my money for food or grocery shop and I still had a really solid array of food to eat.

#3 It's your job to read and write

The thing I miss the most about college is that your literacy game is ON POINT. I read SO much and then read novels on the side for pleasure like a huge dork. I loved writing papers and having concise and solid arguments. The feeling I got when I read over a particularly brilliant (if I do say so myself) line making a solid argument with great justification--POW! I rarely get that feeling of pride anymore. In grown-up life my writing extends to emails and a daily tweet for my work's account.

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That's why this little blog project has been so important for me. I love writing and since I started my non-profit career I've been so exhausted with the day to day of life that I just didn't ever do it. I would say in passing to Mary mid-rant about how everyone hates the Kardashians (perhaps a post about this later) "I should blog about this!" And then I never did. I felt so confident in my voice in college. Confident that I had a well researched paper or my reading reflection had solid connections and a unique perspective. After I graduated I lost so much of that confidence. I started to feel smaller somehow and like my voice and perspective weren't anything special.

So I guess I just want to say thanks for reading--thanks to all my friends who have said kind words, shared and liked the posts. We're a week away from the end of this experiment and I'm grateful to you for being along for the ride.