I come from a small country town where nothing fun happens. Instead of waking up to morning traffic, I wake up to a tractor spluttering to start up. Instead of casually walking to school with friends, my daily commute took one hour, two bus trips and a whole lot of motivation to stay awake for the remainder of the day. My only drive to get through year 12 was the fact that in less than a year, I wouldn’t actually be in school anymore. At night I would dream about strolling through my university campus, coffee in hand and glasses on, thinking about how I would be well on my way to becoming the uni student everyone looks at and goes, “Holy shit, she totally knows what she’s doing with her life.” I aspire to be her.
The truth is, I’m just weeks away from starting university and I don’t feel like that person at all. I still spend most of my days binge-watching Netflix and getting overly attached to fictional characters – not what I would consider any sign of someone who has their life together. Just like the lyrics of a pop-punk song, I’m aspiring to move out of my deadbeat town and head to the big city to find out who I really am, but I still feel like just a kid. After a small panic and existential crisis, I’ve realised that in reality it isn’t just me who feels this.
Everyone I know is in the same position as me: we’re still learning how to “adult” and find out who we really are. As we prepare for the big wide world, I know I’m not immediately going to be that young woman who orders coffees from cool hipster cafes or strictly reads classic literature. I’m still a country girl at heart who is a sucker for some well written fanfiction, but I know starting this new chapter is heading me into the right direction.
I’m going to have a shitload of new responsibilities I can’t ignore in my crappy way of procrastinating. There’s going to be things I hate doing but am going to have to suck it up and do anyway. That might be the crap part of becoming a new adult, but I do know this experience is going to bring me some of the most exciting, craziest memories that will be with me forever. The first step is commencing with this sacred ritual for all new students known as Orientation Week.
To all my fellow O Week patrons, I salute you for taking this journey with me. Let’s all attempt to become those sophisticated, mature adults together as we walk into the rest of our lives…
But who wants a couple of drinks and a good dance first?
Written by Meg Kennedy