Undergraduate Blog / Defining Your Babson

Oh Jeez Adulthood

The other day I wrote the text, “Let’s touch base tomorrow morning, I’m on the way to the farmer’s market with my girlfriend to get some fruits for a raw food cleanse that we’re doing.”

I sent the text, and then sent the followup text, “Oh my god that was the most adult thing I’ve ever said.”  While this may be somewhat of an exaggeration, it is true that living in a city, on my own, and have to be largely self sufficient for a summer is a totally new experience for me.  I shop at Trader Joe’s, pay $4.00 every time I have to do laundry, and actually deal with adults on a day to day basis (who aren’t my professors).  My housemate, Lisa, and I even bought two fish that we named Jethro and Marmalade in an attempt to drive home the semblance of adult responsibility day-to-day.

There is a lot of it that I really enjoy and appreciate.  I love cooking for myself and my friends, having the thrill of living in a city, reading books on my commute, and listening to NPR while I make coffee in the morning.  It feels real.  It feels good.

That being said, it’s also drastically more difficult than living with all of my friends in a dorm on Babson’s relatively tiny campus.  I never thought I would miss Trim Dining Hall, but there’s really something to be said for having all of your meals prepared for you and all of your dishes done by somebody else.

In terms of actual work that has to be done, that posed by my internship has come relatively easily.  I mostly just need to write about music, research music, work on concerts, and connect with people – all things that I’m totally comfortable doing.  However, the challenge of maintaining healthy work habits outside of the structure of my internship has been interesting.  I learn that if I don’t make breakfast, I either don’t eat breakfast or have to pay exorbitant amounts for a bagel at the disgustingly twee coffee shop on the way to work.  Also, when the internet goes out – somebody actually has to deal with it, instead of resting easy knowing that it’s being fixed by IT somewhere else.

All in all, I’ve enjoyed my time living on my own, but I’m glad I don’t have to do it full time for another two years.  I’m looking forwards to no-dishes for a little while longer.