Fire And Rain

You people are lucky.  Had I been blogging at this time last year, you would have had to read a painful, painful blog post about leaving for college for the first time.  I surely would have posted some sappy, cliché song (if you are between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five and that happens to be one of your favorites, don’t be ashamed, I feel you).  I would have written about the countless memories I had with family and friends, about the time so-and-so broke a window or how my friends and I had a great time at prom.  I also would have written how I was “super excited” to start the next chapter of my life as a college student, meet new people, make new friends, go to college parties, finally learn about “stuff that matters”, etc.

If I were you, I probably would have thrown up in my mouth a little if I had to read something like that.  It may have been painful to read, but it would have been written honestly.  The truth is, even as much as it is played up in movies, going to college is completely life-changing.  A year ago, I was a different person than I am today.  I have experienced things that have made me a better person, just as I have experienced things that I would not be comfortable telling my grandmother about.  It’s impossible for me to describe the way I lived my life last year at school to someone who has never experienced college.  College is not a chore, college is a party.  I don’t mean that in the literal sense, although that is certainly true.  Responsibilities and expectations of normal life do not exist while at school.  It is truly a surreal experience.  All the guys act like they are fifteen, and all the girls try to act like they havn’t gained weight (I kid, I kid).

I’m not sure what I am getting at, other than if you still have college ahead of you, it is something to look forward to, and if you are out of college, I hope you look back fondly on those years.  As I’m sure all of you already know, I decided in the spring to transfer from Indiana to the University of Illinois.  Although I will be a sophomore academically, I feel like an incoming freshman inside.  I am just as excited as I was last year, and just as nervous.  I know this year will bring many new experiences, good and bad.  In the next year’s time, I will live in my own apartment for the first time, turn 21, and move one year closer to being in the real world.  I wish you all good luck, whether it be at a school you love, a job you hate, or in whatever it is you may be doing.  Go Illini!

Guilty Pleasure

Do You Take Credit Cards?

Today, I finally realized that yes, I am getting fat.  I’ve only gained a few pounds since entering college, but my god, it feels like so much more.

After being home for 6 days, I decided it was time to get the obligatory summer gym membership.  3 months, 140 dollars!  For a student membership!  Courts Plus Fitness might as well be burning my money out of my pocket.  Sadly, I get the impression that this isn’t really even that bad.  Is this what things cost in the real world?  Not cool.