Why Living In The Real World Is Better Than Still Being In School

At the end of my senior year in college, I was terrified.  I had people warning me about this thing called “The Real World,” which was not an outdated television show, but instead this scary abstract idea of the dark beyond that exists after I earned my diploma.  This was the world of bills, rent, full-time work, and building your own furniture to look like everyone else’s.  Up until that moment, it was a distant worry, something I’d have to deal with “one day when I get old,” but as my senior year ended, the end of my life was about to begin.

I’m here to tell you that the Real World is fucking amazing.  Sorry for the spoiler alert, but graduating from college rocks.  There’s no need to sign up for a grad school program that you aren’t sure about in order to prolong your perceived downfall, because your life is about to get a whole lot better.

I think a common misconception about the Real World is that once you walk through its doors, you automatically transform into some sort of old person who goes to bed at 9:00 and eats bowls of steamed vegetables for every meal.  With maybe a plain baked potato every now and then for variety.

The truth is that you don’t really change all that much after you get that diploma.  You’re still pretty much the same bundle of problems with hopes and dreams.  Sure, you get a few more responsibilities now that you’re on your own, but you lose a lot of responsibility as well.

Gone are the books you are mandated to read on subjects with feigned interest.  Gone are the essays and tests and projects and the nights reserved for all previously stated tragedies.  Gone are the hungover mornings spent in the library, huddled over a study guide for a test scheduled later that day.  Gone is the stress and the perpetual sense of urgency that comes with weekly deadlines.  When you are in school, there is always something you should be doing instead of having fun.

The Real World is different.  The Real World offers you a chance to relax.  There are no surprise tests or assignments that you can’t handle.  If you think you experienced freedom like none other during your transition from high school to college, you are about to be pleasantly surprised.  In the Real World, freedom is given out like dumpling samples at the H-Mart.  The only deadlines you have are work-related, and can be confined to the hours of 9AM and 5PM (unless you work one of those insane jobs, then your life is pretty much over in the Real World…but then you might be rich).  Outside of those hours, you are free to plank on mountains and in refrigerators, whatever it is that kids these days are up to.

The point is that you finally have untainted time.  You may pay bills and work long hours, but at the end of the day, you have your own time.  Some people use this time to meet new people, to get drunk 7 days a week, or even to start a blog.  Just the idea of doing whatever I want in my time makes me excited.

I could travel to faraway lands, or use my time to help others.  I could finally write that novel I’ve been dying to get onto paper, or actually read for pleasure.  I could sit in my pajamas all weekend and watch something on my roommate’s Netflix.

You shouldn’t be afraid of the Real World because once you enter it, you are finally free.  The only institution that has you in its grasp ends at 5PM, and you can finally begin to follow your dreams. 

Dream big and wish for more than just steamed vegetables and baked potatoes.