Getting old sucks...

This time of year proves to be very exciting for high school students all over the world who are fortunate enough to be attending college. I can still remember exactly what it felt like the very first day I walked into class at A&M-C. It’s a fusion of feelings like thrill, anxiety, false-maturity and excitement all rolled into one. I’m actually a little bit jealous of all these students that are heading off to college. I truly miss being in college…I know, I know, most people reading this are like “what is wrong with you?” but I loved college; it was such an exciting experience and one I would love to do again. I can just image the eye rolls that this blog posting is causing my sister to have as she reads this post. There is so much that I miss; I miss the opportunity to get to know individuals from different cultures and walks of life, I miss the way the buildings/hallways smell, I miss having no other responsibility other than to learn, I miss having epiphanies about the way things actually are, versus the way I perceived them to be, oh and I miss having carte blanche with my parent’s credit card.

Now, that’s not to say that I wouldn’t do a few things differently.
First, I would have attended a different university (for both my BA & MSM) and majored in a different discipline. While I loved A&M-C, and I think I was born to be a business major, I would have liked to have gone off to college instead of staying close to home. Somewhere like Columbia – because I (HEART) NY and the university’s stellar reputation speaks for itself, or maybe the University of Colorado @ Boulder – quite simply the location, and/or the aesthetics of your surroundings would be worth it alone, and did I mention it sits at the foot of the Rocky Mountains? I mean, what could be more thought provoking and encouraging than snowy mountains in the winter and beautiful, tepid summer days? Or, maybe even The American University in Rome, though I’m thinking that would have taken some serious pep talking to my parents… Also, I think I would have either studied psychology and counseling with the goal of becoming a therapist, or continued on with my first discipline choice - culinary art.

Second, I might have reduced the time I spent partying [read drinking] by 5%, and increased the time I spent studying and applying myself by 5% - though not a point more. Partying is a part of college, I’m realist people, you should know this by now.

Lastly, I think I would have gone to more sporting & social events at the school. I am pained/ashamed to say that over the course of 5 years and two degrees, I did not attend one football game; but, what I missed out on in sporting events, I well made up for it in partying at the Sigma Chi party barn.

In all honesty, to fully appreciate and enjoy your alma mater you have partake in everything it offers. College is such a wonderful and enlightening time for young adults. I just hope I’m around long enough to help my kids, and my two nieces and four nephews pick colleges and shop for dorm room supplies! The possibility that lies before them just blows my mind. I hope they enjoy it while they can, because, before they know it, they’ll have graduated and be in the ‘real world,’ which isn’t nearly as fun.