Turning a new leaf

For me, college was perfect timing. I was totally ready to go when I graduated high school, but I swore I never wanted to leave when I walked across the stage in Barnes Hall to receive my diploma last May.

After a couple of months working/living in the city, I went back to school for Homecoming this past October. I had the best time of my life. And on Sunday, when my friends were yelling at me to get into the car for the ride home, I wanted nothing more than to cry my eyes out, tell them to fuck off, and drink sangria in Ithaca's afternoon sun. I cried the whole way from Ithaca back to Manhattan, especially when sentimental songs were played.

A couple months ago, my friend Marissa and I decided that it was a MUST to go back to school for Slope Day. I put in my days off at work, packed my most "college-fun" outfits and asked my mom if I could borrow the car. While making the long drive up on Thursday night, with three wonderful people I had met from Cornell and T.I. lyrics bumping in the background, I really believe the saying, "College is the best four years of your life."

Now the weekend is over, the fun has been had, but at the end, I did not cry. Don't get me wrong, I loved seeing my friends again, I loved hanging out in the nice weather on the slope, I loved being places I hadn't been since graduation, but upon reflection, I also think that I have outgrown my college experience. I was hoping to look at my trip to Slope Day as closure to the past year of inner-turmoil I have had. Should I have stayed another semester to finish my finance concentration? Should I have applied to grad school so I could keep living the college dream? Should I have accepted a job someplace outside New York City (the only real city I ever wanted to work in)?

This past weekend was definitely closure for me and the enamored relationship I had with my college. I will still continue to visit its beautiful campus, hum its Alma Mater on the subway and sport its Big Red gear, but now, I just feel so much more ready to become an adult than I did last May. Maybe I have grown or maybe I am just euphoric because it is the end of the work day, my bills aren't due for another week, and I just had a weekend with my friends that will go down in the books as aaammmmaaaaaaaaaaaaaazing ;)