Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about change. It seems that as soon as I get used to a place or a job, it’s on to the next one. The fact that my college graduation was almost two months ago, and that the same amount of time stands between me and Spain, never ceases to blow my mind.
I’ve always sworn that I’d never be one of those people who starts a piece off with an overused quote, but I think the wise Ferris Bueller said it best, “Life moves at you pretty fast; if you don’t stop to look around once in a while, you might miss it.” If you can’t tell, I’m feeling more than just a bit sentimental, so please forgive me.
It’s true – life doesn’t slow down for anyone. When I stepped on my college campus four years ago, my impending graduation seemed a long way off, but as with anything in life it snuck up on me, and I’ve now got almost two months under my belt as a UMass Amherst alum. The other day I finally got my diplomas in the mail, so it finally feels real.
Since then, I have moved back home and settled into my old ways (thanks mom and dad!!). With an endless supply of home cooked meals, fresh fruits and veggies, and free laundry, not to mention the fact that I’m actually getting the recommended hours of sleep for a twenty something year old, it’s easy to get comfortable. However, every so often it comes to mind that this is temporary. On Labor Day, I’ll be leaving my childhood home and taking on this #adulting thing solo in another country. Even if this only lasts a year, it’s still pretty terrifying (but also pretty exciting).
This restless feeling is just one side effect that accompanies the comfort of living at home and having TOO much free time. I feel stuck in the no mans land between the college lifestyle and adulthood. I’m sure many of you recent grads can relate. Life at this stage is a lot of things. It’s temporary, confusing, fun, and frustrating. I feel like I’m improvising.
Some of you reading this probably envy the position I’m in – I realize the early-mid 20’s are a pretty good time to be alive and I am definitely not complaining. However, being the type-A lady I am, the prospect of the unknown throws my brain into worry-wort mode. I’ll be sitting on the beach enjoying a good book then all of a sudden, the questions hit me. What if my roommates are terrible? Will I do well at my job? And most importantly, this one: can I really survive a year without a real ice coffee?
While I might not be a high school trickster like Ferris, I, too, recognize that time is of the essence. With only got two months left of my last carefree summer, I’m aiming to put these worries to rest and take every day in stride (side note: learning how to chill out was one of the goals I wrote about in an earlier blog post…you can see how much progress I’ve made on that).
Since I’m moving to a country whose solution to the majority of stressful situations is no pasa nada (no worries), I might as well get used to it.
POCO A POCO 