I'm so Bored that I went to grad school

I haven't updated this blog, and the reason is simple: I'm in the middle of earning my Masters of Education in Child Studies. Grad school is exciting, but it also means that I have to be a real adult now, whatever that means.

So here are some things I have learned about being a real adult:

1. Life is expensive!

Living on student loans means that I think of every single purchase in terms of how long it will take me to pay the federal government back for that item. And everything is so expensive. Rent, electricity, internet, food, textbooks. I'm often surprised I don't get a bill in the mail for all the air I'm breathing.

This right here is a major splurge

2. If you go grocery shopping on an empty stomach, you will leave with way too much food.

Sometimes I don't even remember putting the stuff in the cart. It's like my growling stomach took over and did the shopping for me. I get home dazed, confused, and holding cookies, two frozen pizzas, and a dozen ice cream sandwiches.

Sure, I never eat applesauce, but I'll start, right?

3. Dishes and laundry take a lot of time

This fact is made worse by the fact that I will procrastinate on both of these chores for a long time while doing homework/watching Netflix. And with work and school and trying to have a social life, laundry piles up like never before.

Yeah, the laundry pile is taller than I am, but I still have a couple pairs of clean underwear, so I'm good

4. You can meet a lot of different people on the city bus.

I once overheard two guys discussing the best places to buy drugs. 

Another time, a guy I'd never met told me he likes when he "gets to see" me on the bus. 

There's a homeless guy named Michael who tells me all of his views on religion and philosophy.

And of course, there's a guy who speaks to me in Spanish and gave me an orange one time, which was pretty cool.

From college students and professors to homeless people, you never know who you're going to meet on the bus.

Plus, if you take the bus down to the end of the line, you can just take a nap

5. Staying at your undergrad institution for grad school is really, super weird without your friends around.

I thought it would be cool to stay at my Alma Mater for grad school. After all, I know the school, I know the city, and I have tons of friends, right?

Well, although I love grad school, it turns out that a lot of what I loved about the school and the city in undergrad was my friends. And most of them moved away. They're in Texas, California, Washington, etc, and I'm trying to branch out and make new friends in the city I'd already lived in for four years. 

Incidentally, this is the best show to watch when you miss all your friends

 I have loads of homework, so other lessons about adulthood will have to wait for a later post.

For anyone else struggling with being a "real adult," good luck!

I'm so Bored that I graduated college

Sorry I've been absent from this blog for so long. Yesterday, however, I graduated college (with a B.A. in Spanish). In honor of the end of this part of life's journey, I have compiled a list of the top 5 ways to annoy people now that you've graduated college:

Because it's not a blog post without a "top" something list...

5. Force everyone to congratulate you!

Mention graduation as much as possible. Make it impossible for anyone to not congratulate you without looking like a horrible person.

Preferably, write a blog post about it!

4. Post pictures of your diploma all over the internet.

Your diploma's not official until you've tweeted it, snapchatted it, and instagrammed. Get on it!

Bonus points if you've already framed it.

3. Wear your cap (and tassle) everywhere.

Not everyone could make it to graduation, so continue to wear your cap and anythiing else they let you keep for at least 2 weeks straight. 

Throw your cap in the air and shout hooray every 5 seconds.

2. Start every sentence with "Back when I was in college." 

Stress the past tense when talking about college. And you should talk about college a lot. Give current students advice based on your four years of wisdom and make sure to point out that you're done with all that.

When I was your age, we hiked up a mountain to get to the dining hall.

1. Whine about missing college... A LOT.

Nothing tells everyone you've graduated quite as well as complaining that you've graduated. Talk about nothing but college memories for as long as you can. Bonus points if you break down crying every time anyone tries to congratulate you.

But make sure that you still follow #1 on this list!

Once you've annoyed everyone around you, maybe you can actually mentally deal with graduation yourself. Good luck!

Bored Game Time!

Answer: If you said yes, you're crazy. But thanks for believing in me. Move forward 1 space.

Question: What degree will I be earning next?

I'm so Bored that I complained about graduation

I found this post in my drafts folder. It's super old, but I'm so Bored that I decided to publish it. Enjoy! Oh, and I'm too lazy to find pictures for it, so you just get a stock photo of a bathroom. Sorry! 

Graduation is 13 days away, and I've been complaining to everyone that will listen. After all, I don't know how to be a real adult. I could write 20 posts about everything I will miss about college, but instead, here are 5 things I will never miss:

5. Communal bathrooms

How did they get it clean enough to take this photo?

I know people that complain constantly about public bathrooms - they're messy and crowded and the toilet paper is awful. In college, though, there is no other bathroom. Every bathroom is public, and privacy is a thing of the past (and now of the closely-approaching future).

4. Frat parties

The first semester of college, frats seem cool. They have all the alcohol. They have hot guys. They throw large parties. It's every high school outcast's dream. And a lot of people at my school were not very popular in high school. But once you actually experience a frat party, you discover that it's loud and obnoxious and  full of drunk people shoving everyone around them and slurring their words. You don't look cool; you just look stupid. And heaven knows what that is all over the floor.

Mostly, though, I won't miss being woken up at all hours of the night by parties next door, which leads me to:

3. Dorms

This whole year, I've compared my dorm to a prison. We live in small little cells with windows we can't open and a single square of light in the ceiling. Oh, and RA's and other staff have keys and can open your room without knocking anytime they want. We pay more than most apartments cost to live in a crowded building with lots of rules. And to the people who set off door alarms in the middle of the night, I'm going to not miss you especially. 

2. Constant Construction

Everything's getting updated, all the time. They talk about five and ten year plans, but I don't think they're real. As soon as they finish renovating a space, they start planning on how to renovate it again. And constant construction means sidewalks and parking lots are closed. It also means you learn to fall asleep to the sounds of giant drills. Can't we just say, "Wow! The university looks great. I think we can leave it like this for a few months!"? And while they're busy putting fancy, meaningless renovations to every space on campus, they haven't bothered to improve the elevators or handicap entrances.

1. Nothing

Yup, that's right. I was wrong. I can't think of a fifth thing I won't miss. For all its faults, I love college. This place is my home. It's where I learned who I was and met most of my friends. So if you can't find me in the crowd come graduation day, I'll be hiding in my dorm room closet, hoping that they'll just let me stay here forever. 

I'm so Bored that I got marriage advice from a 9-year-old

My 9-year-old cousin, who shall hereafter be referred to as Princess, has told me many times that I should never get married.

"Become a nun...like me!"

She has even told me that she's afraid that if I were to ever get married, I would stop loving her.

Which is even less likely than us finding one of these in Australia

This summer, however, Princess decided that I'm allowed to someday get married if she gets to choose the perfect husband for me. Here is her strategy:

1. Come to a meeting of my university's Catholic group.

2. Pick the first cute boy she sees.

3. Ask him if he's single.

4. If he says yes to 3, ask him if he has any tattoos or piercings.

5. If he says no to 4, ask him to marry me.

Good, we've narrowed down the field to only the best candidates

And all this time, I thought finding my future husband would be so difficult. Silly me!

Bored Game Time!

Answer: Apparently, over an hour and a half. yeesh.

Question: Do you think I could actually find a husband by letting Princess talk a guy into marrying me?