Want to know the difference between a small liberal arts college tucked into a cornfield in Iowa and Real Life? The amount of hand-holding and the total lack of it in the global sphere. Once you leave that round, snug bubble of college life, it fluffing sucks.
Maybe I am being a bit pessimistic. No, there aren't any more social spheres for you to fit into. No more "Liberal Arts" definition weighing on our self worth. But did they mention that it's just plain HARDER?
As I left Luther College and made my way southward toward Mississippi State University, I thought things would get easier. I would be living with my father and stepmom, two little brothers, and the animals that roam the house here. I thought "Hey, free boarding, free food, the easy life!" Yes, free food is a wonderful thing. But I am currently witnessing my own regression of self at this very moment of life.
At Mississippi State, nobody holds your hand like they did at Luther. I failed a freshman English Composition class, because my professor happened to remind me that the small paper I never turned in would result in a total class F.....at TEN o'clock on Friday night, before my birthday and Mother's Day, where the last thing I was doing was checking my emails from this MLA-nazi of a professor. Though I could blame her for not warning me in advance, she did happen to point out that this fact was on the syllabus.
Guess who doesn't check the syllabus?
KT: 0
Real Life: 5 million and ONE
In Real Life, the realm of CareBears is to the minimum. "Oh, your mom died last year? Too bad, suck it up Buttercup, because Life doesn't wait."
My words are biting and whiny. I know I am a born optimist turned "bad" with enough cynicism to kill an adult T-Rex. But guess what? I'm tired. And I AM an entitled twenty-something-year-old American with first world problems that nobody wants to hear.
So moving on...
A word of wisdom to my fellow Liberal Arts Collegiate's and every other Twenty-Something:
Don't take advantage of these opportunities presented before you. Though it's rosy to have a hand to hold right now, in reality there's a system of learning how not to get kicked down. Most of you are like me and will get hit with at least 3 semi-truck-failures before you realize you're swimming against a concrete current. Guess what? DON'T give up. No matter how easy it is to splay open your hands and go "haha, alright Life, you win"...
Don't.
Hailing Dr. Who for his Time Lord skills sounds Oh So Keen right now, as you find yourself hitting your head against the wall over and over. But where will you be then? A forty-something with the mental and emotional state of a "teaspoon". Because yeah, we are these adult-bodied things, with experiences equating to that of a teaspoon.
The best thing to do is know what to expect. Expect the harsh, wild world to be what it is.
For without darkness, you get no light.
