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I Am Adulting As Best As I Know How

One day I'll make my own dentist appointments.

Arleth Pamela Uranga

May 14, 2018

Friends University Kansas State University

Arleth Uranga

How were our parents 22 with a house and kids? Next month I will be turning 22 and I am still eating Honey Nut Cheerios out of the box because it is finals week. Exploring adulthood is scary, but I somehow still feel like a child.

If a kid got lost in a store they'd ask me for help and I'd go find an adult to help us make sense of the situation. Exploring the new emotions I have as an adult are scarier than those I had as a pre-teen and I feel this is because the choices I make now will directly affect the rest of my life.

If I feel anxious about a presentation or even buying my own groceries, then how will I ever become an adult? How will I master these feelings of uncertainty or anxiety? I believe we don't ever master it and I don't think our parents ever did either.

As we advance in the different stages in our lives I realize that we are all making it up as we go along and that just as there is no book for parenting (as everyone says) there is no book that tells you how to live YOUR life. There are books that tell you how to possibly live life, but these are all based on experiences of their own version.

Life is scary, finals are frightening, debt is crippling, love is uncertain, and all these things that we are expected to do at a "certain" age are unrealistic standards given to us by society and our parents.

As much as we love them and admire them, I don't think I'll be married at 22 with kids like my father was. I don't think that I'll be married before I complete my studies, and I really don't think that I'll ever make my own dentist appointments. That's why I have my mom!

Yes, "adulting" is scary, and I secretly enjoy eating Cheerios straight out of the box, but I don't think I'll let myself be pressured by someone else's milestones. Mine are coming, and one day I'll be able to look back at this article with a cereal box in one hand and my phone in the other talking to my mom about my upcoming dentist appointment (because some things never change) and be — or at least feel — like an adult.

Until then I'll bask in the anxiety and insecurity that comes with growing into an adult.

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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.

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I Am Adulting As Best As I Know How

One day I'll make my own dentist appointments.

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This isn't just for the single Pringles out there either, folks

Run Around Clanging Pots and Pans in Everyone's Face

Eat the Last Few Pigs in a Blanket

Pop Twelve White Grapes

Burn Something

Smash Things Against a Wall

Spontaneously Begin an Irish Jig

Call Your Mother

Throw a Coffee Table Out a Window

Sing "Auld Lang Syne" at the Top of Your Lungs

Do Some Squats

Swan Dive into a Nearly Freezing Body of Water

Take a Shot

Time to be merry and bright.

"First Noel" by Leslie Odom, Jr

"A Holly Jolly Christmas" by Burl Ives

"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" by Kelly Clarkson

"All I Want for Christmas Is You" by Mariah Carey

"Christmas (Baby Please Come Home" by Michael Buble

"Last Christmas" by Taylor Swift

"The Christmas Song" by Josh Groban

"White Christmas" by Idina Menzel

"O Holy Night" by David Archuleta

"Believe" by Josh Groban

"Les cloches du hameau" by Celine Dion

Or at least try to do.

1. I will wake up (sorta) on time for class.

2. I will look decent for class.

3. I will go to the gym more.

4. I will go to the library and study more.

5. I will meet new people.

For those long nights that turn into mornings when the struggle is real.

1. Walk in motivated and ready to rock

2. Disappointed you let it get this bad

3. Distracted: When a 10-Minute Break Becomes an Hour

4. When the Yearning for Sleep Sneaks Up

5. In the words of Lorelai Gilmore "Coffee, Coffee, Coffee"

Oh, so done.

You need sleep, but also have 13 things due in the span of 4 days.

1. When it's December 1 and you have seven things due, three exams, and haven't slept in three days.

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3. And cry.

4. Then call your mom to cry some more.

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6. But, now you're tired.

7. And really hungry.

8. Suddenly, it's 2 a.m. and you have only written three sentences and your paper is due in the morning.

9. You've made it to Friday... somehow.

10. Then Sunday hits and you find yourself back at the Lib.

11. So you cry some more.

12. But, you fight through the tears to get everything done because you're determined.

13. In the end, you feel on top of the world because you made it through the last week of class alive.

14. But, now it's finals week so good luck.

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