college and the real world

“You have four years to be irresponsible here. Relax. Work is for people with jobs. You’ll never remember class time, but you’ll remember time you wasted hanging out with your friends. So, stay out late. Go out on a Tuesday with your friends when you have a paper due Wednesday. Spend money you don’t have. Drink ‘til sunrise. The work never ends, but college does…” --Tom Petty

As I plug on through my last semester in college, I get increasingly scared about what lies ahead.

I came to visit some relatives in Michigan this weekend that happen to live a hop, skip, and a jump away from Michigan State University. My sister goes to UW-Madison and felt it was necessary to go see MSU for comparisons sake. Beyond MSU, we also made our way to Ferris State to visit a friend. This weekend I managed to see two other colleges in Michigan.

As I was visiting these other schools, I realized just how great the college life is. Both of these campuses were very different than UWM and many of the other campus' I have visited, but still were great. I love college towns and found myself finding the same things on the MSU and Ferris State campuses that you'd find on most any college campus--Noodles, Qdoba, some 24 hour breakfast joint, etc. It's funny how different these schools are, yet how much similarity can be found as a part of any college life.

In college, it's acceptable to get drunk on a Wednesday, take two naps a day, do all of your work the night before it's do and so on. My excitement for graduation decreases slightly as it becomes a reality that I will no longer be able to live this relaxed lifestyle.