College Times

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Growing up is such a trip. And I don't mean getting older; we all get older, but we don't always grow up. I've found there are significant times in my life where I really feel like I've reached a new level of awareness, and now is one of those times while I'm realizing how nice it feels to be label-less.

People always say things like enjoy your youth because it will be gone someday and then life will basically suck. I totally disagree with that. While my childhood and adolescence were fun, they were also tough, especially high school. I think that is the time when you're trying to figure out who you are, how to be cool and how to be grown up. In high school, whether we want to admit it or not, I think we're all kind of trying to impress each other and that's hard.

Growing up, I definitely experimented and went through all the phases: punk, raver, gothic, hippie, you name it! I don't know about you, but where I grew up groups didn't mesh. The jocks hated the skaters and so forth. What a waste.

When I first began college, I noticed that these labels were finally fading. It's nice to have a scenario where people are taken out of their groups and next thing you know thugs are friends with preps and don't even realize it. Have you ever thought about your friends that you've made since college and realized, "Wow we would have never been friends in high school"? I certainly have. My boyfriend was a jock in high school, so I'm sure we automatically would never talk, but turns out we're perfect for each other!

I just feel like I'm finally at a point in my life where I really know who I am. That includes what I want to do as a career, how I want to act and even dress. I've realized that these things take a lot longer to figure out than I originally thought. And while I know I'm still young and I will certainly change more, it's nice to have taken parts of me from all these groups, labels and phases to figure out who I am. Additionally, I love that my friends - who were once just a hippie, a thug, a prep, a freak and a homecoming queen that would never have talked in high school - are now simply people that have come together to be the best group of friends I've ever had.

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