the Real World
Being a teenager is all about finding your place in the "real world" (whatever that may be). Let's be honest, college is nothing like the "real world." It's like it's own mindless isolated utopia (or dystopia in my opinion) of twenty-something debauchery. If this is supposedly the high point in people's lives, then god help us all - this is not living. Some people have the time of their lives, while others spend their lives finding who they are - all while in a little bubble of total freedom with little responsibility. This is the real world.
One of the weirdest thing about college is the whole routine of it all. For most people it's go to class during the week, relax on the ground and hang out when not doing homework, and then rage face on the weekend until black outs ensue ... rinse, and repeat. I'm going to make a bold statement that you may or may not agree with but I find it truly sad that people cannot have fun on the weekend without alcohol. If you're dependent on alcoholic substances to provide you with a good time (as most teens are) you might have a problem. The weekends at college are spent with people dressing up in their most revealing clothing, pregraming in their "dorm" rooms and then trolling around looking for the hottest party where all their friends can get in. It's all about who you know, who you pretend to be friends with, and that mythical girl to guy ratio quota. People stumble around a drunken mess and literally have no idea what went down on the weekend - it's not okay. That's not the real world, if you're still doing that when you're out of college you're going to be in for a rude awakening, nobody does that except in college. It's the superficiality of people's fleeting interactions the "hey" or "hi so, and so" and the fact that it takes people a minute to remember other people's names. That's all you get with the majority of people you interact with, nothing more than meaningless exchanges about the weather, how your class sucks, or how much you love where you go to school. On the weekend, people come out of the woodwork to pretend to be friends just to get in with you know. Me, personally I don't do fake and I'm not about that life. If we're not friends during the school week, we can't suddenly be besties on the weekend. Let's be honest and keep it real. The real world is more than making it through the week just to get sick-nasty schwasted on the weekends, it's about real friendships, deep conversations, hanging out (sober), and enjoying people's company. That's the real world.
The real world for me this year entails co-starring in every sense of the phrase, and keeping up appearances on a daily basis. So glad I come with a patented seal of approval - makes my life so much easier. Saturday morning I woke up a mess, as always. I roll over and check my email on my phone. I realize I'm supposed to be volunteering to help setup the LGBTQA Welcome Back BBQ like now. I scramble out of bed, put clothes on and look presentable (as in perfectly manicured and put together). The wind is blowing hard but it's still hot as hell outside, so I go back up to change into shorts and roll up my sleeves. I google maps the place and I walk down main street alone thinking about my unbelievably extraordinary life (like who actually does that). I get to the Allen House and I see my fraternity brother Joe and we're tasked with helping decorate the place with rainbow themed party supplies. Stretching on ladders, lifting random things, and taping banner & streamers about is how we spend our Saturday morning. Two hours later the event starts and people from all walks of life enter the festivities. Joe and I take the broest picture in the photobooth ever before hanging out with our advisor Ben and his friend Chris (who bears a striking resemblance to Sebastian Stan). Soon people come flooding in, I grab food and awkwardly sit down. Greek Life is there in full force and I know people are aware of my new position on campus and the fact that I'm in a fraternity, and I actually get to talk to some of the Greek leaders and break the ice. I find my chapter president Derrick and we pal around getting candy apples (my first one ever) and mingling with legit everyone. People are under the misconception that you have to identify to go to certain events, no I'm not any of the letters in the acronym or those rainbow flags, but it's cool to meet new people and get a different perspective on life. I head back to my room after another 2 hours and do homework for the rest of the day. 8pm rolls around I'm blasting music and getting ready for the Greek Life sponsored "Catamount Corral" western themed night. Off to the Davis Center where I go to represent my fraternity, and show some solidarity. Even more awkward social interactions (if this is the real world, Lord Jesus take me now, so much awk sauce) and the even gets under way. Literally on three non-Greek guys came around, and the event died down pretty quickly, but I give props to Pan Hellenic and IFC for putting it on. This is all I wanted - to be like Greek and go to a themed night, life made. My fraternity bros, Zach, Dom, Derrick, and I take the funniest picture ever in the dress up booth and I call it a night. I order chicken wings, watch teennick's Aussie import show SLiDe and do homework before hitting the hay. All around me I hear screaming, vomiting and ridiculously loud music - so this college, this can't be real life, this is not the real world.
Being a teenager is all about being yourself in place where everyone may or may not be pretending. It's hard to be genuine when all you've got to go off of is fleeting interactions, awkward pleasantries, and random ridiculousness. It's up to you to do your best to go for something more, to do something meaningful and to make some actual lasting connections with people. See past the difficult weeks and even crazier weekends, and live for something more. This isn't the real world, this is the prequel to the real world.
My blog post question for the day is ... what was your favorite season of the Real World? I would have to go with DC, hands down. Great cast, people actually did stuff and it covered some controversial topics real legit-like.
One of the weirdest thing about college is the whole routine of it all. For most people it's go to class during the week, relax on the ground and hang out when not doing homework, and then rage face on the weekend until black outs ensue ... rinse, and repeat. I'm going to make a bold statement that you may or may not agree with but I find it truly sad that people cannot have fun on the weekend without alcohol. If you're dependent on alcoholic substances to provide you with a good time (as most teens are) you might have a problem. The weekends at college are spent with people dressing up in their most revealing clothing, pregraming in their "dorm" rooms and then trolling around looking for the hottest party where all their friends can get in. It's all about who you know, who you pretend to be friends with, and that mythical girl to guy ratio quota. People stumble around a drunken mess and literally have no idea what went down on the weekend - it's not okay. That's not the real world, if you're still doing that when you're out of college you're going to be in for a rude awakening, nobody does that except in college. It's the superficiality of people's fleeting interactions the "hey" or "hi so, and so" and the fact that it takes people a minute to remember other people's names. That's all you get with the majority of people you interact with, nothing more than meaningless exchanges about the weather, how your class sucks, or how much you love where you go to school. On the weekend, people come out of the woodwork to pretend to be friends just to get in with you know. Me, personally I don't do fake and I'm not about that life. If we're not friends during the school week, we can't suddenly be besties on the weekend. Let's be honest and keep it real. The real world is more than making it through the week just to get sick-nasty schwasted on the weekends, it's about real friendships, deep conversations, hanging out (sober), and enjoying people's company. That's the real world.
The real world for me this year entails co-starring in every sense of the phrase, and keeping up appearances on a daily basis. So glad I come with a patented seal of approval - makes my life so much easier. Saturday morning I woke up a mess, as always. I roll over and check my email on my phone. I realize I'm supposed to be volunteering to help setup the LGBTQA Welcome Back BBQ like now. I scramble out of bed, put clothes on and look presentable (as in perfectly manicured and put together). The wind is blowing hard but it's still hot as hell outside, so I go back up to change into shorts and roll up my sleeves. I google maps the place and I walk down main street alone thinking about my unbelievably extraordinary life (like who actually does that). I get to the Allen House and I see my fraternity brother Joe and we're tasked with helping decorate the place with rainbow themed party supplies. Stretching on ladders, lifting random things, and taping banner & streamers about is how we spend our Saturday morning. Two hours later the event starts and people from all walks of life enter the festivities. Joe and I take the broest picture in the photobooth ever before hanging out with our advisor Ben and his friend Chris (who bears a striking resemblance to Sebastian Stan). Soon people come flooding in, I grab food and awkwardly sit down. Greek Life is there in full force and I know people are aware of my new position on campus and the fact that I'm in a fraternity, and I actually get to talk to some of the Greek leaders and break the ice. I find my chapter president Derrick and we pal around getting candy apples (my first one ever) and mingling with legit everyone. People are under the misconception that you have to identify to go to certain events, no I'm not any of the letters in the acronym or those rainbow flags, but it's cool to meet new people and get a different perspective on life. I head back to my room after another 2 hours and do homework for the rest of the day. 8pm rolls around I'm blasting music and getting ready for the Greek Life sponsored "Catamount Corral" western themed night. Off to the Davis Center where I go to represent my fraternity, and show some solidarity. Even more awkward social interactions (if this is the real world, Lord Jesus take me now, so much awk sauce) and the even gets under way. Literally on three non-Greek guys came around, and the event died down pretty quickly, but I give props to Pan Hellenic and IFC for putting it on. This is all I wanted - to be like Greek and go to a themed night, life made. My fraternity bros, Zach, Dom, Derrick, and I take the funniest picture ever in the dress up booth and I call it a night. I order chicken wings, watch teennick's Aussie import show SLiDe and do homework before hitting the hay. All around me I hear screaming, vomiting and ridiculously loud music - so this college, this can't be real life, this is not the real world.
Being a teenager is all about being yourself in place where everyone may or may not be pretending. It's hard to be genuine when all you've got to go off of is fleeting interactions, awkward pleasantries, and random ridiculousness. It's up to you to do your best to go for something more, to do something meaningful and to make some actual lasting connections with people. See past the difficult weeks and even crazier weekends, and live for something more. This isn't the real world, this is the prequel to the real world.
My blog post question for the day is ... what was your favorite season of the Real World? I would have to go with DC, hands down. Great cast, people actually did stuff and it covered some controversial topics real legit-like.
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