I was looking at the calendar this week trying to come up with something to write that will not a) bore you b) make you wonder if I’ve lost my marbles or c) be completely irrelevant (because I’m sure there’s been at least one of each of those scenarios already). I thought about noting on a celebrated holiday (apparently today is national Homemade Pie Day which is cool and all but really…who comes up with these things??) and I even went so far as to thinking of talking about the weather (hey, how about that drought we’ve got going on!) but then I looked more closely at the date and realized…it’s August. AUGUST. That is the month before September. You know what happens this month? SCHOOL. Which is fine and all (go education!) because, for me, school is fun and I miss my friends and my own apartment and even all the crazy squirrels who walk me to class (I go to a small school alright?)
Goodbye summer… 🙁
But alas, this is not just the end of any summer. It’s the end of all my summers as I know it. (I have a flair for the dramatic, you know this). I’m going into my senior year of college and after this…that’s it. No more school, no more professors; I have the real world to face. With 9 to 5’s and responsibilities and BILLS and other horrifying adult-type things. I’ve had four years to prepare but am I really ready for this?
I’m sure I’ve mentioned it before, but I’m not a big fan of change. There are just so many…changes that happen! (Award for most obvious goes to…) I always find that in the end change is usually for the better but I can’t help but still fear the unknown.
And that’s the problem isn’t it? It’s not the fact that we’re afraid of the change so much, it’s the fear that we don’t know what’s going to change. Or how we’re going to change as a result. There’s a reason why no one is the same person they were in high school or even college. The things we go through influence who we are.
In a way, this should be a bright spot. Why? Because who you are and who you become comes down to essentially one thing: yourself. And when you’re in control, why should you be afraid? The changes will come from what you decide yourself and really, where’s the unknown in that.
In the spirit of change, I might as well follow my own advice for once and cast aside my fears about what’s to come after college because change is only as terrifying as I make it. Yeah, I’m enjoying my life right now and I’m going to enjoy it while I’m still at this stage. But after this year, I’ll still be happy. Because I finally will get to be the person I want to be when I grow up. Because I’m there.
To all of you fearing the change of a new school, your first year of high school or your last, remember this: enjoy what you’ve got right now and look forward to what’s to come. Things change but guess what? So do you.
Here’s to a great new year! And enjoying what’s left before then.
Laura
