The College Journals: Growing Up

It will hit you like a brick one day.

You’ll be driving down a little road, or sipping coffee at the neighborhood Starbucks. Maybe, you’ll be in bed, after a long day of being a part time student, and part time problem solver. But the day will come, where you realize that you are no longer a child.

It’s not a necessarily sad day. It can be, don’t get me wrong, the death of your childhood self. But for some, it’s the best day of their lives. Its the day that mommy and daddy stop being mommy and daddy. For many it means freedom. It means that whatever you do next, where you go, who you love, when you move...it’s all up to you. It’s your choice to be had.

And in college, many of us are forced to lose certain parts of ourselves fairly early. We’re forced to make our own money, buy our own food, and deal with our own daily curveballs. And yes there are rules that come with that. Don’t spend this much. Don’t buy that. Don’t go home with said person. Don’t fall trap to that.

But let me be very clear. While there are rules for being on your own, there is only rule for growing up. And that is this.

Never Ever Grow Up.

Yes, the “old world” would like all of us to be squares. It would like all of us to fit into boxes so that it can squeeze us into cubicles from 9-5. It wants all of us, to vote Democrat or Republican. It wants all of us to watch the news before bed, drive the same route to work everyday, and collect debt like Death collects souls. It wants us to believe that creativity has its place, and those phases in life are nothing more than that.

They want us to be just like them, Grey suit wearing, newspaper reading, coffee drinking, suburban house owning people.

When I was a kid, I wanted to be a director. I wanted to make movies in hollywood. But that was too hard, I was told. So then I wanted to be a politician. That was a dirty game, I was told. So then, in 4th grade, I decided I wanted to be a meteorologist. That was perfect they said. That was a stable career. That was the way to raise a family.

No more playing with fantasies, they said.

Thank God, I found college, and it’s true meaning. You see, some of us are told that college, and all its dog days, is where we should become adults. But in reality, it’s where we find out that the dog days of our lives are just beginning. The late nights have only just begun. The creations have just started piling up, and those dreams...those dreams still have decades of shelf life.

Because your dreams don’t die with a date. They die with a soul, with their master. They don’t die with the big 3-0. They don’t surrender to the gray suits of the world after a few falls. And they sure as hell don’t owe anything to anyone but you.

No one decides the end of our dog days but us. Only we, decide when we grow up.

So take some advice?

Delay it as long as possible. It can be dark on the other side.

Talk soon,

EICHEL | @EichelGDavs

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