20 years later, look back at the time you spent growing up, vacation bible school, elementary, middle, and high school. Who were your closes friends? Who were you most excited to see everyday? Now think about this, how many of those friends do you still have contact with? How many would you still consider friends? Tough reality is we all grew apart. Yes we may still follow each other on snapchat or twitter, instagram or Facebook, but how many of us still know everything about them? Very few I'd be willing to bet. We change just like the seasons and everyday people go there separate ways but today I say thank you for all of those friends I've had in life, and a special thanks to the friends that are still by my side and the family that has doubled as friends. I'm beyond grateful for all the relationships I have built over the years whether they be lost now or kept. I'm a different person because of the people I've met. Over time I realized that some people really aren't your friends unless its convenient for them, and some people will stick by you through everything even when it makes life tougher on them. True friends never abandon you. Thank you for being my backbone when I needed it and thank you for being the extra push I needed to always finish the race. Life is hectic sometimes but I've learned through the past few years the people that come in and out of your life are merely lessons, they are bridges and stepping stones that leave lasting impressions on our loves whether they be good or bad. Don't sweat the friends that turned out to be snakes, and don't blame yourself for finally walking away. Be true to yourself and know that no matter who your friends were, are, or will be, you will always be your first friend, the person you can count on most, so stay true to yourself. Remember to say thank you to the friends that are around and the friends that have never left. That's truly a blessing. Although this may seem strange, remember to say thank you for the friends that turned out to not be "friends", no matter what they did or what happened between you they taught you something, they helped move you forward to the place you are today. You don't need anyone who doesn't need you however always wish for what's best for them, be the bigger person. Today my main focus is this, be the friend you'd want to see. You can't expect someone to be something that you haven't tried to be. So be grateful for your friends, past, present, and future, and be a friend they can be thankful for too.
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1. You feel like an elder.
When you started college at 18 you probably thought you were SO old. Now at 22 or 23 you realize that you still are not "old," but you are to the 19-year-old that may pop up in your classes. You seem like a grandparent to them, and no I will not buy you your alcohol or help you find a fake ID.
2. You may feel lonely.
Sure, you still have friends on campus. But your "squad" is no longer all there. You go from Thursday night pre-games and 2-for-1's to Skype dates to try to stay connected with all your friends. On a positive note, you are likely going to make new friends with other people who are in the same stage of life as you.
3. Senioritis is more real than ever.
You thought you had it rough this last year, yet this year you are more ready to graduate than ever. But, the real world still scares the hell out of you and you are low-key happy you had an extra semester or two to prepare.
4. You may feel a little down sometimes.
When you see your friends moving all over the country you may feel a little down as you realize you are doing the same thing you have been doing for the last four years. But it is important to remember that it is completely normal to not graduate in four years and you can do even more things to help prepare you for the next phase of your life.
5. Fear of missing out won't be as real.
At least in your college town, most things that are going on with your campus are going to be things that you have already done before. So, on nights you would rather lay in bed than go downtown, the FOMO will probably be much more toned down.
6. You are a college pro.
On the plus side of being a fifth year, you've got this whole thing down. You know the ropes of college: how to study, how to get in with your teachers, where to go on what nights. This is all old news to you and you've got everything down to a science.
7. You'll have more free time.
Sure, you can still be involved but odds are your social calendar just really opened up, AKA no more events you are going to be fined for if you don't go to. With all this extra time maybe you'll get a job or maybe you'll lay in bed. Ultimately, it is your choice.
8. You're happy you're still in school.
Every time you get on Facebook you see so-and-so from high school getting married, having children, etc. And while you're happy for them, you're happy being single and not having that responsibly and being in college an extra year doesn't sound so bad anymore.
9. You feel like a guru.
Odds are people in your classes will know you are a fifth year and know that you pretty much have the campus figured out so you are going to have to answer questions about where the best spots to study are, where to go for game days, etc. You may get annoyed answering questions, but you're still happy you've got the lowdown on everything.
10. You continue to grow.
You are going to learn more about yourself and for the first time since you came to college as a confused, excited and scared freshman you are going to have to get out of your comfort zone a little and make sure to make your (hopefully) last year your best year yet.
Aubrey Plaza is one of my favorite humans in Hollywood. She's honest, blunt, unapologetic, and hilarious. I just started my sophomore year of college, and found that some of her best moments can accurately describe the start of the school year.
1. When your advisor tells you that you should declare a major soon.
2. Seeing the lost and confused freshmen and remembering that was you a short year ago, and now being grateful you know the ins and outs of the campus.
3. Going to the involvement fair to sign up for more clubs knowing that you are already too involved.
4. When you actually do the reading required for the first class.
5. Seeing your friends for the first time since last semester.
6. When you're already drowning in homework during syllabus week.
7. Realizing you don't have the same excitement for classes as you did as a freshman.
8. Going home and seeing people from high school gets weirder the older you get.
1. For all of the endless hugs and kisses you always seem to smother me in.
2. For teaching me how to cuddle and being the best cuddle buddy still to this day.
3. For teaching me some of the best "mom dance moves"
4. For pushing through all of the sleepless nights and still being super mom.
5. For not killing me every time you found me cutting my own bangs.
6. For showing me all the classics and helping me develop a good taste in movies.
7. And for watching the ridiculous reality TV shows with me because no one else will.
8. For helping me with all of that awful homework that even you couldn't understand.
9 For giving us a taste of our own medicine when we needed it.
10. For setting my curfew at a reasonable hour to ensure I didn't get into any mischief. (I was still able to accomplish a little mayhem though)
11. For spoiling me as a little girl but making me do chores as I got older. I now understand the point of having a clean house.
12. For being the best host to all of the weird friends I would bring over.
13. And for standing up for me when those weird friends stabbed me in the back.
14. For listening when I needed to vent and always giving the best advice possible.
15. For being the absolute best cook. No arguments there.
16. For answering every single phone call and the millions of questions that I always have.
17. For letting me form my own identity and encouraging me along the way.
18. For going on shopping dates with me and always telling me your honest opinion.
19. For rolling the windows down and singing along to the music with me.
20. And for being the best mom possible. I love you!
1) Hot showers
Anything with steam. The bathroom in my apartment has a built-in vent system when you flip on the light. However, this isn’t very helpful when you’re congested and you’re trying to use the steam so that you can breathe again. There are two options; 1) you can keep off the lights and use the flashlight on your phone to light the bathroom or 2) you can boil water in a pot, remove it from the heat, cover your head with a towel, and inhale. It looks really weird and you have to be careful not to burn your face on the steam, but it helps clear out some congestion.
2) Over-the-counter medicine.
Vitamins, supplements, Airborne, Mucinex, Dayquil, Nyquil (for bedtime), all of it. When self-medicating you have to make sure that you’re not taking too much of one type of medicine. Use Google to make sure your meds are compatible. Also, read all of the directions; you don’t want to accidentally take too much of something. If you’re feeling nauseous, eat peppermints.
3) Honey.
Honey is a natural healing-agent. If you have a sore-throat you can coat it with the honey. Raw-honey is the most effective type when trying to make yourself feel better. Also, honey in tea is amazing.
4) Tea.
You’ll feel like a damn Brit. (lol, JK love those Brits!) Actually, though, chamomile tea is really good, there're types of tea that help promote relaxation (I love those). You can brew up some tea, put honey in it and it tastes sooooooo yummy! It also helps you sweat out the sickness, stay hydrated, and the steam from the cup helps congestion. Same thing goes for soup, plus it tastes delicious.
5) The expensive tissues.
Yes, it's tempting to buy the super cheap tissues because college kids are poor, but when you’re going to be blowing your nose 80,000,000 times a day, splurging a bit for comfort is the best option.
6) Vicks.
Do you know how many ways you can use Vicks chest rub (or the rip-off brand) to help yourself get better? It’s insane how many places this stuff helps! For a congestion, under the nose clears that out. A cough, putting Vicks on your chest helps you breathe easier. For a sore-throat, you can rub it on your neck and throat and it’ll ease the pain. The weirdest, but best, place to put Vicks is on your feet. It will cause you to sweat. It’ll make the fuzzy stuff from socks stick to you, but it works so well!
7) Rest and avoid alcohol.
I know, rest is hard because we have so much work to do but take an hour long break every once in a while, go to bed at midnight instead of 3, avoid partying. It sucks if you like parties and want to go out, but your body will thank you and you will feel better with the weekend off!
8) Call your mom.
I’m pretty sure this is advice that I give in everything that I do. My mom is a major supporter of me though, and I do call her a lot. She took care of me for my entire childhood, she took care of my sister too. Mom’s have life experience and just know how to help their children if they can. Even though my mom isn’t anywhere near my school, when I’m sick she comforts me and makes sure I’m doing everything possible to feel better, because she’s my mom and that’s what moms do.
9) Go to the doctor.
If you think you really have to. Personally, I avoid doctors on campus, I try to avoid them at home too. I’d much rather take care of myself with honey and over-the-counter stuff but to each their own.
In college, it takes 0.0000002 seconds to catch a sickness that can put you out of the running for a really long time if you don’t take care of it. When I do all of the things listed, except go to the doctor, it takes me about a week or week and a half to fully recover. Best of luck avoiding the on-campus plague, the odds are not in your favor.
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