Being an adult isn't easy. I feel like I've been warned my whole life about the struggles of adult hood yet here I am, an adult struggling. In my second year of college and first time apartment renter, I am learning every day about the necessary tasks of growing up.
College students are in this awkward, in-between stage between adults and teens. I for one have an immense amount of debt that certainly no one without the adult title could see, but I also have to call my mom for advice on how to fix my toaster.
The dorm living was a sad excuse of “adulting.” I had to feed myself (from food provided to me in the dining halls), I had to put my clothes away (or shove them into my closet) and had to buy my own toiletries — toothpaste, deodorant and shampoo all coming out of my personal budget.
It turns out I didn’t know what real adulting felt like until I saw a freshly vacuumed floor in my apartment building. With five girls and one cat, the floors of our apartment filled with hair at a rate we were not ready for.
Equipped with only a slightly functioning vacuum from freshmen year, it could not manage the hair fest that was our living room and bedroom floors. Somehow, our carpets were left in a ratty mess as we dealt with other adulting tasks and putting our income to more important things like eating and textbooks.
I did not know the power of a well vacuumed floor until my roommate was gifted one for Christmas. When I walked into my bedroom floor returned from my break, I was amazed. With three girls sharing one bedroom, the layer of hair that I thought was normal was shed, and at that moment I realized the power of a clean house.
My roommate being gifted a vacuumed for Christmas brings me to another ridiculous stage of adulting—boring holiday gifts.
For my birthday, I got measuring spoons. Last Christmas I got a tool kit for freshmen year emergencies. I don’t want my attitude towards gifts to be taken as ungrateful, but am simply pointing out a transformative stage for one to realize they are becoming an adult.
But adulting isn't always bad...
I believe this transition stage of my life also makes the thoughtful gifts more memorable, my mom gifted me a record player when I asked for no big presents, and it meant a lot to me.
Adulthood allows for appreciation of smaller moments. When an old friend texts you, grandma calls you, or a friend buys you dinner — meaningful relationships begin to make you feel more grateful than any object could buy.
There is no guide to adulting, and no one said it would be easy. Instead, it is a trial and error process of knowing where to get the cheapest detergent, stacking up that CVS care cash, and becoming the adult you've been working towards your whole life.