Being the baby in the family is one of the best and worst things. You get spoiled rotten and can get away with damn near murder but being the last of the Mohicans also makes it hard for everyone to let go. It’s still hard for them to grasp that I’m living with someone of the opposite sex (gasp!) and that there’s a good chance we may be engaging in more than just pillow fights at night… But hey, that’s life and we all gotta grow up at some point. And now my big grown up moment is days away… my College Graduation (cue choir).
First off let me say graduating from college is NOTHING like graduating from high school. So much is different about being 21 than being 18 and it’s more than just the freedom of enjoying the perks of alcohol worry-free. When I graduated high school, I knew I’d attend Ohio State and I knew I’d still come home on weekends and for breaks.
But this time around something’s different…
In fact, a lot of things are different. For one, I will more than likely never live with my parents again. There will be no “going home” on breaks and weekends because I will more than likely never have a “winter break or spring break” again. I’m about to enter the real world and it all seems surreal.
Just yesterday I was moving in the dorms on Ohio State’s campus horrified to find one of my roommates had already met a guy and took him back to the room. (Let’s just say that was the moment I knew I’d be living off campus real soon.)
Just yesterday I was learning my way around such a massive campus and was proud once I knew where all my classes were by heart and then disheartened when I realized how fast the quarter had gone by and that I would need to memorize an entirely new schedule.
Just yesterday I was still getting the O-H-I-O cheer down and getting used to responding back with the appropriate letters on cue.
Just yesterday I was learning what a pro show was and seeing where all the black people on campus liked to congregate.
Just yesterday I was discovering that icebreakers would run me $30 if I didn’t get in line before 10pm or was lucky enough to be Greek. I didn’t make the cut for neither so I soon gave up on icebreakers.
Just yesterday I was learning the techniques of the almighty college sport of beer pong… and that black people usually would pass on a game.
And just like that it’s all coming to an end.
I’m about to be an adult with real adult bills and real adult problems.
Welcome to the Real World.
