The Reality of Growing Up
With graduation slowly approaching and the doors of adult-hood slowly opening, the stress and anxiety of an uncertain 20-something-year-old is at an absolute all-time high. The closer we get to graduation date, the more realistic life seems to get, not to mention scarier.
My whole life I have identified myself as an athlete. I grew up playing volleyball and was trained from a very young age to be persistent with my craft and hopefully end up one day with a scholarship to play in college. Throughout college, I have only identified myself as an athlete in my head. When people refer to themselves as a "student-athlete", I referred to myself as an "athlete-student", as do many other collegiate athletes. My whole life revolved around sports and it paved a very easy-going lifestyle when it came to surviving in college. Being on a team provided me all my friends, gave me a daily routine that I followed for four years, provided academic advisors and mentors that assisted us with any problems we had, and basically made our lives a lot easier with the exception of having 20 hour work out weeks. My whole life I have been guided by sports, but with that now done, life has definitely felt a lot harder to navigate.
The reality of trying to find a job that you somewhat enjoy when you have no sense of direction of what you want to do in the future is definitely not a reassuring feeling. Joining corporate America is not something I look forward to and its been very hard to accept the hard truth that your childhood is soon coming to an end and the reality of growing up is becoming extremely real. The confusion and uncertainty leaves me restless at night and for the first time in my life, I feel like I have no idea what to expect in the near future.
This may not be the case for all, but it sure is the case for me. The reality of growing up has recently sent me into a shock, one that I'm sure I won't get out of until I have settled into my "grown up" life, but until then, I will cherish every single moment I can hold onto as a college student.
Super emotional, I’m sure a lot of soon graduates feel this exact same way. Thanks for sharing 🫶🏽
ReplyDeleteHi Malie, I loved this blog post because it really hits the reality of life and the constant thoughts that run through our head. No one wants to grow up and have a complete life change. However, it is something everyone goes through and can cherish in the end.
ReplyDeleteThis is so honest and relatable. I know exactly what you mean. You really dug deep into your fears and anxieties.
ReplyDeleteWow, this was a doozy. It makes me sad how fast we are growing up. It makes me reflect on everything I have done in my life thus far.
ReplyDeleteThis post felt too real. Sometimes activities are everything to some of us. It is so hard to picture life without it.
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