Let’s face it. Young adults in college (including me!) get caught up in our lives away from home. We are busy getting involved in our sororities, fraternities, and other groups on campus. One minute we are hanging out with our friends enjoying life, and the next minute we are stressing over school. You got into the hardest class; you didn’t get off the waitlist; a big test is approaching and you don’t even have the textbook yet; everyone is going out but you have a 9:00a.m.; you’re in nursing school and you just can’t take the pressure anymore. The list of things you can stress over in college goes on and on so it makes sense you would turn to someone to keep you sane. If you are anything like me then you are on the phone with your mom, or whomever you turn to, everyday venting about one or more of the stressful things going on in your life. When doing so, we often forget that while we are complaining about our lives, the person on the other end of the line has a life that is just as stressful. It is easy to forget that the people we are turning to have their own problems and sometimes they need to vent too!

My mom is my “go-to person” and I couldn’t even begin to count the number of hours I have spent pouring out my heart to her about the stresses of my life. But, at the end of every phone call, I ask her how her day went and make sure she knows that I want to know how it REALLY went. I want to hear the good and the bad and let her vent to me the way that I always do to her. As with all of us, some days are better than others and the other day was one of her bad days. I could hear in her voice how upset and stressed out she was and it came to me that I bet all of our parents feel this way at some time and just don’t share it with us. Some parents might say (like mine have before) that they have adult friends for this and shouldn’t burden their kids with their troubles. In some cases, this may be true, but isn’t it fair to say that if they can listen to us complain about something as simple as a rough day at school, that we can return the favor and listen to them vent about a rough day out in the real world?

With this question in mind, I challenge you all to take a second out of your day and forget what happened to YOU, good or bad, and genuinely ask your mom, dad, grandparent or anyone that you always turn to how their day truly was and give them the same comfort and advice that they always give to you. In matters of unconditional love and support, it goes both ways!