Myth Busted: College Life Continues

May 10, 2011 day one outside of college. I am still living in the house I share with 3 other college guys. I’m the only one slated to leave and completely unemployed. The summer subleters are already here waiting for us to leave. This brings the total household to 7 or 8 depending on how you count girlfriends who are always around. We’ve got 5 guys to a bathroom. It is as dirty as you would assume. The number of televisions and video game consoles has tripled on all counts. We have 6 minifridges and not a single measuring cup.

With the increased testosterone, desire to celebrate, and family members in town my meat intake has increased exponentially. I had gradually dumbed it down to two or three servings of meat a week. Since finals ended, I’ve had meet with virtually every meal. My attempt of limiting environmental impact, lowering my own financial costs, and probably increasing my health has now utterly regressed and failed. This has added hypocrisy to my list of imperfections, as for the last two and a half years I have been employed or running an environmentally friendly and social justice oriented coffee shop/student group on campus. Perhaps leading by example is overrated? Or, I’m just making excuses for myself. Or, I am merely exercising my ability as champion of the food chain and tamer of Mother Nature. This website will prove my point: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_reclamation.

This day marks the end of the insanity that is college. The Myth of College: pay money to party, drink, fool around with people your age and, if you pick your classes right, do virtually no work. Then, you get a cool white collar job with two weeks paid vacation. The Reality of College: Lose a bunch of money, gain weight, develop bad habits you never thought you’d have, and be dropped off in the real world with no real skills or experience to speak of. If you’re like me, you’ll retain a sense of entitlement and look down on those who’ve taken jobs you simply didn’t want for some reason. Now it’s not all bad. I have some great stories, a few more good friends, a new found ability to consume alcohol, and a couple girls who should hate me but oddly don’t.

Things I did today: Productive - applied for one more job and set up a phone interview for Thursday. Personal: Dropped the last of the dozen family members who came from all over the nation to see me graduate. I love you all, but thank God you’ve left. Social: Got slightly buzzed with the $5 pitchers of PBR and Half-Priced wings at the Graveyard in East Atlanta. I, however, went solely for the free dart games. Got extremely drunk in my house on a delicious Texas beer. On a related note, there’s a great deal at the Pitch n’ Putt Package Store in Atlanta – 24 Shiner Bocks for $14.06 with tax. I bought Fruit Loops at the local CVS around 2am and passed out with the unopened box in my arms.