college days

It has been awhile. Sometimes those creative writing juices need a rest, so much thinking in one day and its hard to keep it going after the day is done.
But I felt inspired, especailly after reading my lovely mothers blog. I always get ideas or inspired in the weirdest places and at the wrong times. The other day, I was brushing my teeth before going to work and I got a idea, but no time to write, so I lost it. Who knew brushing your teeth could get your head thinking for awhile? Sometimes these ideas just come out of nowhere, and sometimes they are well thought out.

Anyway, I have been thinking a lot about college lately. It has been 3 years since I have been out of college, out of the best 4 years of my life. As much as I love being a working professional at times, I do miss those years. Everything seemed so much easier then, all I had to worry about was when a paper was due or when my next test was. Didn't worry about if a day at work was going to go well or not, when my next rent payment is or what I need to make for dinner. All of my friends were a dorm, apartment, or hall way away!

Nowadays, I have no friends who live a dorm room away from me, or an apartment away from me. (though, my boyfriend lives 1 minute from me, so that is a plus!) Life is definitely different after college, but I do know that your college friends are the ones you keep the longest. I always knew that my college friends were important to me(some of them were even before college and just stayed with me once i entered college.) But I did not realize what a void is created when they are not around until this weekend.
This weekend I got the pleasure to kind take a peek inside what college was like for my boyfriend. Meeting his friends from college made me realize even how much more I miss college sometimes. Everyone has different experiences in college but they are all memorable, and have been documented in different ways. Maybe some people take pictures, or maybe the write about it every day, but whatever the way the document it, it is always fun to look back!
I have seen many of my boyfriends college pictures and he has a story for each one of them, either a story of what the picture is about or the person in the picture.
I look back at mine, and I can tell you when it was taken and what we were doing. I smile as I look back at these, remembering these simple times and wonderful memories. It really shows that a picture is worth a thousand words!
I know I have made the decision to move thousands away from my friends, but I am also one to never lose touch, hence why I love technology these days! Being far away, makes coming back to visit all the more worth it too, and its never different! Its just like picking back up where we once left off years ago.
I think that is the best part about reuniting with old friends. I discovered this a few years ago when I was in a musical back in Wisconsin, one of my moms old friends from when she was in theatre, was working on the musical and that reunion between both of them was just like picking back up where they left off! Amazing!!! Sure there are things to share with everyone, stories of what is going on with your lives, but its the stories that we come back to that make that reunion the best!
I don't know how many times my friends and I would bring out a story about a party or just a lazy day in the apartment or dorms. We could tell those stories a million times and we would never get sick of it!
Now I know that life must go on after college, and that we can still create different memories, which I have done. That year after college, working in the mountains, is full of memories!! Moving to this part of California is definitely full of memories! But I truely believe that college makes us who we are in the real world. Whether it is a lesson learned from a friend, owning your first apartment, dealing with room mate issues or turning in a large assignment, in some small way or big way, these have all made us who we are in the real world. There is also some learning and growing to do when you are out of college, the whole paying bills, working at a job, living in your own house or apartment, but it grows on your experiences in college.
So to close, I want to thank my friends from the 4 years of college I have made. Thank you UW-Whitewater for giving me the experiences that I will never forget.
Live it to the fullest, you only get to go to college once!