College
life refreshing, liberating - no rules
Molly
Stewart
Clean
your room, make your bed, brush your
teeth, take out the garbage, be home
by 10 p.m., do your homework, don’t
drink — the things our parents
tell us goes on forever. How many of
us have heard the dreaded, “Because
I said so” or “When you’re
living under my roof, you obey my rules?”
Well, thanks to the time-honored institution that is college, we no longer
have to listen to a single word those mom-jeans wearing, speed-limit-obeying,
tape-playing old timers say. We can do whatever the heck we want. College brings
us the freedom to stay up until 2 a.m. partying and then arise at 7:45 a.m.
for an 8 a.m. class without our mom nagging us. There are no curfews, no rules
and nothing stopping us from going crazy every night. But with that prerogative
comes new problems.
On one hand, there’s the ability to eat nothing but pepperoni pizza for
your three squares a day. On the other hand, there is leaving everyone you
love and care about at home.
You’re on your own for the first time ever. That is scarier than listening
to your parents’ old groovy Mamas and the Papas LPs from the ‘70s.
Aside from the horror that is California Dreamin’, college also brings
us the problem of managing our scratch, moolah, dough, dinero — in other
words, our always-shrinking supply of money. And that sucks.
Being in college makes us long for the days when mommy and daddy opened their
magic leather pouches and money spilled into our greedy little paws. I now
look at the price of food before I even look at what it is. Cup O’ Noodles
may contain nothing but fat and what appears to be a pasta product, but hey,
they’re only a dollar.
Remember the time John tripped in the cafeteria and spilled Coke all over his
jeans? You don’t? Oh yeah, this isn’t high school. The friends
you make here probably didn’t go to Bayside.
This allows you to reinvent yourself and become miss popular or the class clown.
No one knows you here so you can be whomever you want. That’s great for
making new friends, but what about the old ones?
Leaving home means leaving behind our best high school buddies, the kids we
went to elementary school with, the friends we suffered with when we all wore
braces and thought N’Sync was cool. Waving goodbye to our childhood pals
is tough, as is leaving our dorky parents and our long-term loves.
“Dude, can I leave my sandy beach towel on your bed while my girlfriend
and I use the room for a couple hours?” Oh yes, the headache of having
a roommate is also part of the college experience. Being forced to live in a
tiny 15-by-11-foot cell with a complete stranger is not easy. You have to deal
with clashing sleep schedules, different eating habits, cleanliness issues and
contrasting music and TV preferences. You like “My Super Sweet Sixteen” and
she likes “A&E Biography: Peter Jennings.” Here’s a tip:
buy earphones and show each other a little respect.
Speaking of respect, when you get up at 7 a.m. for an 8 a.m. class, try to
be quiet. Your roommate is still recovering from the night before after stumbling
in at 3 a.m. missing a sandal and spilling his guts all about how he met the
most beautiful girl ever named Jenny. Or no, wait, was it Jessica? Whatever
man, she was hot.
Thick, juicy steak, buttery mashed potatoes, moist chocolate cake … oh
yes, mom’s home cooking is dearly missed once you sample the not-so-savory
dorm food. There’s a lot of variety, but I wouldn’t call pasta
with a neon-orange cheese sauce that is so thick when it’s poked it doesn’t
even jiggle the definition of a delicious meal. Or a waffle batter that even
Denny’s would throw out. Neither is very appetizing.
College brings us the free reign to stay up way past Conan and say goodbye
to milk and hello to beer. But it also tears us from our homes and throws us
right smack dab in the middle of a whole new life — a life jammed with
possibility and fun, but also chock full of responsibility and compromise.
It presents us with tough questions such as: “Will I make friends?” “Am
I going to pass my classes?” “Should I break up with him?” and “That
burrito costs how much?” So take a deep breath, smile, and pray that
the underwear lying on your bed is yours and not your roommate’s.
Molly Stewart is a freshman journalism major. |
