Bring it on, Irene

Hurricane Irene - the beast of a storm that has been working its way up the East coast this weekend.  The news coverage, warnings, and overall anticipation have been insane, and honestly, it's cramping my style.

This is the weekend that I NEEDED to be going out, having fun, pretending that post-grad life is everything it's cracked up to be.  Instead, we are all stuck indoors.  And let me tell you, staying busy and distracted while your only company is two mildly hurricane-paranoid parents and a neurotic dog is a bit of a challenge.

Why do I need to keep busy, you might ask?  Because the school year has resumed again.  Everyone is back at college and the new pictures being uploaded on Facebook make it look oh-so-good. With red plastic cups in hand, the fresh summer tans and giant smiles plastered across semi-sloppy faces scream "look at my awesome care-free life in college!"

Cue the depression and nostalgia.

Like Hurricane Irene, the first few weeks of college create the perfect storm, but in a different way... the hot mess of naive Freshman girls and the excitement of returning upper-classmen build up the potential for chaos around campus.  You always need to prepare for disaster - For Irene, you stock up on batteries, food, water, etc.  For college, ibuprofen for hangovers and Easy-Mac for all-nighters are essential to survive the 4 years.

Yet, the anticipation and excitement soon wear off.  Irene didn't do nearly as much damage as expected and honestly, college life is also soon brought back to reality.  Eventually, the summer tans fade to the normal pale/translucent color, the greasy campus food quickly brings back 15 pounds of "winter insulation" that you worked so hard to lose over the summer, and the library becomes the center of social interaction.

If anything, it is after the storm which is the best part, and the preparation for it helps us survive the potential damage.  Sure, being a college Freshman was a great mess-of-a-time, but think about it... we are now Freshman of an ENTIRE CITY.  This can best be described by this hilarious post:

"Graduated betches are about to make a mass exodus from all sorts of states to major cities where it’s no longer creepy to interact with a 'local.' You’re opened up to a whole world full of new clubs, new bars and best of all, new people who haven’t seen your rotation of outfits a million times. Say goodbye to the days of extending obligatory #23 pregame invites to those #38 frenemies who lived around the corner."

Ain't that the truth.  We get to choose our friends, our careers, our futures, everything.

So bring it on Irene, or real life, or whatever comes next... I'm prepared and not afraid of you.

                                                                                          Huzzah!
                                                                                                   BB

Orientation Week - Part Deux?

Orientation week - that period of time before college officially starts, when every 18 year-old Freshman student is grouped together, frolics around, and plays for a week on campus.  Under the guidance of RAs (and possible influence of alcohol...), the ice is quickly broken and your social life is easily formed.

This type of setting is arguably the only time in your life in which you the have a nicely confined social bubble.  Everyone is at the same point in their lives - roughly the same age and looking to make friends.  Four years of your life are defined by these social interactions, and friendships are established.  It is a very strange sort of community, dormitory life, because you are essentially living with your fellow students and friends.  Unlike high school, there is no break.  Whether you go home after class, grab a bite to eat, or relax and have fun, you are hanging out with your peers.

One of the (many) downsides of graduating college is restarting this social life.  For the most part, my friends have spread across the country.  Sure, some are nearby in other towns... but this is very different from being down the hall, a mere two doors away.  It is surprisingly a lot of effort to keep in touch, and even when you meet up and have reunions, it is never quite the same feeling as how it was in college.

Wow, I sound like a sad, old, nostalgic person...  But have no fear! My friends and I have done some brain storming and this is what we've decided is a (decent) solution: recreational clubs/organizations!  Ok yes, you can judge us, but it is at least a proactive way to make new friends.  Sure there's the typical way of socializing by going out to bars and clubs, but that doesn't have the best return rate for long-lasting and decent relationships... especially the guys you usually meet there.

With my helpful friend Google, we've discovered that these activity clubs are way more common than you'd think.  And they have something for almost everyone with any interest.  In Boston and love volleyball? They've got it.  In NYC and looking for Salsa dance lessons? There are hundreds of options.

If you don't want to commit to one type of activity, then check out GroupOn and LivingSocial.  These sites are my saviors!  They are genius, really.  Every day they have massive discounts (usually 50-90% off) for anything from restaurants to kickboxing lessons to yoga classes.  Perfect for us poor, unemployed, college grads.  It's a great way to meet a lot of people (since a certain number of people have to sign up for a deal, in order for it to be active) and trying out new things that you might enjoy.  I think it's really important to be active and put yourself out there, so you don't go stir-crazy from living at home.

While life will never again be like the artificial world of college, it does have its upsides.  The biggest one: choice.  You don't have to be friends with people!  You meet someone and don't particularly enjoy their company?  You can choose to never. see. them. again.  You don't enjoy a certain activity or club?  You can quit the class with no repercussions.  What a concept!  While college was fantastic, it was also a bubble that was a bit confining, and eventually, it needed to burst.

So enjoy this new-found freedom, appreciate the friends you've made in the past, and be excited for the people who will be coming into your life in the future.  These choices are all part of the post-grad, real life "orientation" - Enjoy the experience!

                                                                                              Toodle-loo,
                                                                                                             BB