Are You Experienced?

No one in my family actually ever said a word to my brother and I about college.  There was no discussion because it was assumed that we were going.  There was only the matter of choosing which university to attend.  As naive as I was in high school, I pictured college as something very similar to high school, complete with a bell schedule and lockers in the hallway.  Not much would change I thought. 

Boy, was I wrong. 

That first taste of faux adulthood was heady, an intoxicating elixir of fun and freedom.  No one to tell me to get up in the morning.  No one to holler at me to finish my homework.   Nobody telling me much of anything.  It was MY responsibility now!  If I wanted to eat the last piece of chocolate cake, I could! If I wanted to sleep in and skip a class, I could! Decisions were no longer made for me. 

I made my own decisions. 

Of all my experiences away at college, I loved the independence the most.  I felt free to sow a few "wild oats", which included things that I would never have dreamed of doing while in high school.  I made a few mistakes, of course.  Everyone does.  For example, I learned that ceiling fans are not for recreational usage, no matter what the movies say.  (I also learned that one does not chug a bottle of Jack unless one is named John Belushi, but that is a story for another time.)  I figured out the hard way what my limits were, picked myself up, and carried on.  I learned to balance myself on that line between earning a degree and having a great time. 

In other words, I did it my way.


1.) Talk about what you loved most about your college experience.