College vs. Adulthood: A Study in the Changing of Seasons

Fall has begun!

 The signs are eminent: the air is crisp, the leaves are changing colors, the water at Brighton is even less inviting, Michelle Obama has even stopped going sleeveless, mostly. Fall sweaters are real sweaters, as opposed to “summer sweaters” which are just really hairy guys at the beach. And the episode of last nights Gossip Girl made dorm life seem much more glamourous than we remember. My sister keeps drunk dialing me from tailgating parties claiming she is the "beanbag champ of Nebraska". Paige’s brother is now a resident of his college’s “Lacrosse House” and God only knows how much wholesome fun is being had there.

Even more than raking leaves or lusting over Ashley Olsen’s cashmere collection, Fall reminds us of the beginning of the school year. Sigh. If you are like Paige or myself then you are feeling jealous of all the young (but not too young) ladies and um, gentlemen who are having the time of their lives getting an “education” in just about everything from Geology to tonsil hockey. 

 While we are pretending to learn to balance our bar tabs in relation to our measly paychecks and are taking a wild stab at dressing "business casual", our younger counterparts are doing their first kegstands and have legit reasons to stop cute guys asking which way to Anatomy 101.

We miss giving marshallows (see photo) and bottles of cheap tequila as acceptable hostess gifts. We miss getting decked out to "study" on a Sunday night at the library (ten points if you spot a basketball player at the library, 20 if he's not Facebooking).

 I miss jumping around in spandex with pom poms at basketball games, and displaying my "cheer tools"  in my dorm windowsill letting passerbys know that a someone who's got spirit, yea yea's got spirit(!) sleeps within. 

Paige misses stacking her classes between the hours of noon and 4pm to ensure optimum time for morning surfing and afternoon drinking. She does not, to be sure, miss her "Freshman 15" or her ill-advised, Mary Kate Olsen-inspired bout of brown hair.

However...

Here are a few reasons why right now is "like college, but better":

1. The only time you see girls in leggings and Uggs in on Canal Street where they belong, not absolutely everywhere.  

2. Parties usually have more to drink than keg beer and "Jungle Juice" (however, please note that this is exactly what we serve at our parties).

3. Men, not boys

4. Absolutely no guilt while watching countless hours of reality television (you "earned" this, and its not like you have a test tomorrow)

5. That whole "homework" thing got real old real fast

6. Finding out that you think your friends who dated in high-school who stuck it out through college is actually sort of sweet, not pathetic.

7. Dating someone over thirty is totally acceptable, not totally creepy  

8. You aren't sitting in classrooms all day with irresonsible make-out sluts and therefore the chances of getting swine flu go way down 

9. Wearing heels anywhere and anytime doesn't make you a snob

10. Having a crush on a coworker or your boss is way more scandalous and exciting than having a crush on a TA or your professor.

Sometimes we will say, "remember college?" which is usually followed with a slew of embarassing stories, and tales memorable boyfriends, and forgetable outfits. We have no doubt that in few years we will say, "remember when we all lived together in Brookyn?" which will be followed by tales of making nice with neighborly Puerto Ricans, pregaming for dates, and Paige's highwaisted velvet hot shorts. 

American Comedian George Gobel said, "College is a place to keep warn between high school and early marriage." We agree with the warm part as we went to school in South Carolina, but is there anything hotter then four girls pre-gaming while wearing negliges on a Saturday night toasting to "the best is yet to come"? We think not.

Here's a picture of us well into adulthood.