Are you afraid? Afraid of new circumstances, a new cast of characters, new living situations, a brand new lifestyle? Does it scare you? Don’t answer my question, I know it’s a big, fat yes. What I’m here to tell you, for better or for worse, is that you shouldn’t be afraid. At least, not yet.
Your life of uncertainty and fear may seem daunting now, but it only gets worse. That isn’t meant to diminish whatever issues you have. I’m actually here to tell you to calm down, because this is only the beginning. In fact, get excited. Get real excited, because you’re about to enter Binghamton, a world of frigid wonder.
The thought of our oasis here on the Southern Tier should get you pumped.
But once you’ve gone through the motions like I have, once you’ve been through three years of college, once you’ve gotten so far removed from high school that you can’t even navigate through yours anymore — something I may have experienced — you realize that there’s much more to give yourself gray hairs over than your start to college.
Not like any of you are invested in me emotionally — I’m willing to bet very few of Pipe Dream’s regular readers are either — but if you keep up with my column, you’ll soon learn that I enjoy bearing my soul to anyone willing to listen, so here’s my top story and how this all ties together to some big, Mr. Feeny-type lesson.
When you first go off to college and share heartfelt goodbyes with high school friends, you and I both know it’s only temporary. There’s no reason to fear you’ll all part ways so suddenly. But it has to happen eventually, right? When is it OK to start fearing that? For me, it’s right now.
This is my last summer before finishing my undergraduate career. I don’t have a flashy internship or job, I’m just a lifeguard at a day camp on Long Island. I’m not an aspiring investment banker, lawyer or teacher like many of my friends from high school.
And to boot, I’m not yet 21 years old, so that has put a damper on things as well (though by the time you read this, my birthday will have since passed, so “Win No. 1” for me).
The point is, this summer has been chock full of awakenings and realizations. Most of my friends are the aforementioned aspiring professionals with flashy jobs and internships. They’re off doing research with professors at their respective colleges, or living in apartments in Manhattan, working for big and small companies alike.
It leaves me an overgrown man-child, stuck alone on Long Island, teaching 5-year-olds how to swim, while my friends earn five figures, go out to bars and do things with their lives.
So yeah, I’m afraid, and I think I’ve earned that right. I’m not asking you to sympathize for me — though that’d be great, I could definitely use it — but I’m trying to show you that the fear you have about starting college isn’t quite fear. It’s just a mutated form of anticipation and excitement at the idea of doing something totally new and different.
Fear is what happens when your oldest, closest friends all start drifting apart from each other, and you’re left sitting on your couch all day, killing time by visiting your grandparents and using the sauna and steam room at the “spa” at their old folks apartment complex — which actually isn’t as terrible as it sounds.
But don’t worry for me. These aren’t exactly dire straits. I have friends, even if the seven people attending my 21st birthday event on Facebook don’t quite give that indication. I’m just telling you to start getting pumped and to stop being afraid. At least, not yet.