Leading into my second year of university, I was getting prepared to live on my own.
During first year, I lived in my school's resident building. Let me tell you, that was an eight month long summer camp. You had your resident advisor (RA) checking up on you every week, classes were your summer activities, and the dinning hall decided what you will eat. All I ever had to think about was doing my homework and to make plans for the weekend.
During second year, my life was getting real. The summer camp was over and I had to try to dress up as an adult. My roommate and friends all had their parents fairly close to them but, I on the other hand, had parents who were across the Atlantic Ocean.
Some things about living alone were good, some were bad, and others were straight up ugly.
The Good: For the first time in my life, I was totally unaccountable. I didn’t have to ever tell anyone where I was going. I didn’t have to ask what time dinner was. Honestly, whatever I wanted to do, if it was manageable, I just did it.
The Bad: Food. I thought about food all the time. I had to think about what I was going to make for dinner. I had to decide what time I was going to go to the grocery store. I had to remember to take my chicken out of the freezer so it would thaw in time for dinner. I had to plan my meals so nothing would go bad. If you are lucky enough to have parents who make all your meals, like I was, go give them a hug right now, because man, preparing food is a lot of work.
The Ugly: It gets lonely. You are living with people whom you have never lived with before and maybe they go off to do their own thing every once in a while. Or they go home when you have a week off and you are sitting there alone. Even when you are surrounded by people, living in a new city, in new surroundings, with new people, it's lonely. For so much of my high school career, I was so excited to live alone and then when the time came, I couldn’t wait to get back to my parents’ house where it never feels lonely, where it feels like home.
Don’t get me wrong. Living alone in a big city, it kind of felt like a movie and I certainly felt mature. But the main lesson I learned is don't be in a hurry to grow up too fast. I did it for a year and it was exhausting. I’m ready to be a kid again.