Another year is done! This fall, I’ll be coming back to Rochester as a junior…wow. The past two years have been some of the most challenging I’ve ever faced. I think the biggest issue was coming to terms with being a grown-up. As children we always say to ourselves, “Adults get to have so much fun. I can’t wait to grow up!” I remember telling myself the same thing. Honestly, I think I just came to terms with the idea of being an “adult”. I’m 20 years old now. Yikes! Yes, adulthood is something that age marks for you, but that transition never comes like you think it would. You don’t wake up one day thinking, “Oh, I’m an adult now.” Your wardrobe doesn’t suddenly change from skinny jeans and t-shirts to suits and khakis. I realized that the transition into adulthood truly comes from within. When I realized I was at the cusp of becoming an “adult”, I had a huge Peter Pan moment. I began re-watching 90s cartoons, playing old video games, and constantly calling old friends from back home, just to relive the glory of being free of scary adult-responsibilities. The freedom that children enjoy every day.
Then one day, I was walking down a mall parking lot when a teen came up to me and asked, “Sir, are you leaving that parking space?” Sir. This kid, who’s probably 16….just called me sir! It felt infinitely weird to be referred to as “sir”. It just didn’t sit right with me. I just didn’t see myself as an adult. Not yet, that’s not supposed to be here already! Time and age seemed to drag me along, and I had just started playing catch-up. I realized that most people feel this way as well, and it’s not a bad thing. It means more responsibilities, which is scary, but it also means more freedom. Adulthood means the freedom to take risks with no one watching over you. It means freedom to mess up things terribly, or in the same realm, the freedom to make things extraordinarily great. So much potential comes with adulthood, and though it’s frightening, make sure you acknowledge that it’s happening. Make sure to realize that you’re growing up. Take time to sit down one day and look at old pictures of you and your friends and family. Look at how much you’ve grown and how much you’ve been through. Contact old friends and catch up with them now rather than later. Don’t let time escape you, enjoy the ride, look back constantly but don’t stay there. For those of you graduating high school and starting college this fall, make peace with any issues you may have endured throughout high school, whether academic, family or friend-related. Let it go. Always keep your feet facing forward to the future. I’m telling myself this as I am saying it to you, so even if you don’t, you can always make that change just as I am making it now. I have to say though, I don’t think I’ll ever feel too old to watch Looney Tunes, and I will always get really happy at the sight of Frosted Flakes. And that is all ok =)
With hopes and dreams intact,
-Alexis