Just another Saturday night

Freshman year I took an education class with a fantastic professor. He had a way of getting all (ok, most) of his student to actually read the material and care about the class. However, during the last class of the week, every week, he always made the same joke: some crack about getting drunk and drinking beer. I get it. We're college kids. Stereotypically, it's assumed that we drink a lot of beer and party as often as possible.

I would consider today pretty damn near perfect. Want to know what I did on this glorious Saturday evening? No, I did not go bar hopping or go to a club or even go on a date. After work this morning, I came home, ate some cucumber salad, and watched Tangled. I may have even shed a tear (I'm not your typical movie crier. I have never before cried because of a movie). Sounds pathetic, right? Well, if that's your attitude you can shove off. It was blissful.

I was so stressed out after work this morning. I just can't shake how long and stressful and, frankly, terrible last semester was. When I think of going back to school I can feel a knot form in my chest fighting to strangle my heart. I hate that school has come to symbolize drama and unhappiness. I didn't want to want to graduate college. After all, everyone says college is the best time of your life. They say that you have no worries or responsibilities during your college years.

Who the hell are these people? Maybe they can tell me what I'm doing wrong. College is stressful. It entails a rather unpleasant conversation, dare I say argument, every single semester about where tuition money will come from. It means worrying about whether I have enough time to pick up another job with my loaded class schedule. Now, it means I need to pay rent. Most importantly, college means learning to remain professional despite whatever happens.

Yes, I realize that no one is perfect and that it's absurd to expect perfection. However, I'm in college to prepare for the big and scary "real world." Call me naive, but I believe that by the time one enters this mythological land he should be capable of acting maturely. That means discussing problems in a reasonable and logical fashion, taking responsibility for one's own faults and mistakes, and understanding that one never actually "grows up." Now, I'm not saying I'm perfect or even good at doing any of this, but I'm trying.