Nostalgia. We all experience it, but this weekend it was at an all time high for me. My college roommate, Allison, came to visit from MD. We picked up right where we had left off approximately 2 years ago. And we both wished we could go back...
"Real life" isn't all it's cracked up to be, we both agreed. We are in our mid-twenties, with jobs living at home; she a has a steady boyfriend, me, I find myself single. However, in our short (almost) 3-day visit I realized that those young, silly, hilarious (sometimes) foolish girls still exist, even if we are big girls now. We reminisced about our (crazy) college days, cracking up about anything and everything from intentionally mispronouncing "fajitas" as "fah-g-tuhs," and "quesadillas" as "case-o-dill-uhs" just to make our waiter at Chili's uncomfortable. We talked about the "Rubbin-Will" glasses, (trust me, you don't want to know) and we discussed our love of naps, especially after tailgating since the wee hours on Saturday mornings in the fall. We talked about the creepy smile we used to do, just for laughs, or to make others take a second look. We talked about the posters we "stole" (for a lack of a better word) and the boys that made college, well, college.
But, something has changed in both of us. We are both more conscious about money, our future (where will we live? who will we marry?), our parents as they age amongst other important things. While we still have the young-college girl tendencies, like rolling our eyes at immature girls on the train, drinking Mexican mixed drinks, and eating entirely too many carbs over a 48-hour period, we have become young women who no longer long for those days like we initially thought we did.
I love being a "big-girl;" working with students I love, and attending graduate school in pursuit of my Master's Degree. And Al, is a "big-girl" too; in her second year of her fellowship in a lab in Harford County, MD. We are both looking forward, I mean what twenty-something girl is obsessed with the future and what it holds for her?
I wonder when the change occurred, in both of us. When did we go from college-girls to young, working women? I don't remember the day, and I doubt Al does either.
Of course we could still throw-em back with current PSU coeds, eat on the the biggest meal plan (#6 which was for football players, and us) and walk around in Uggs and sweatpants intentionally, but we don't want to. Today, I would officially like to say, "So Long College Girl Life, it was fun while it lasted... I've begun my big-girl life, and I'm not looking back."
I found this post to be absolutely riveting and I am not kidding about that! You wove a tale between "then" and "now" that compelled me to wonder (at times) if you really did want to go "back" or "move ahead." The transition you describe one that we all go through....just like the one from HS to college in our journey through life. We change what we wear but more importantly, our values shift as we talk on the world - which is what you are doing.
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