The Orion Online

Issue date: 10/1/08 Section: Features

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Bills, booze, school, chores and work - being a big kid sucks sometimes.

My garbage is overflowing, dishes are piling up and when I walk around my clothes-strewn bedroom, my feet don't even touch the carpet anymore.

Being 22 years old and managing your own schedule means mommy and daddy aren't looking out for you. They don't ground you for cutting class, make sure your clean clothes are tucked away or tell you to keep towels off the bathroom floor.

When you're a teenager, all you want is to grow up and move out.

Adulthood is supposed to mean all adolescent worries melt away and life is lived on your own terms - blissful freedom no longer prevented by parents' rules, confining curfews and ridiculous requirements such as rinsing your plate after you're done.

But with two jobs, class and a few internships, sometimes all I want is for someone to cook me dinner, tell me what do next and reassure me everything's going to work out.

Procrastination and my "creative organization" have often left me overloaded with loose papers, missing shoes and half-drank cups scattered around my living room.

Sometimes coming home after a 12-hour day to moldy pots and dirty socks makes me want to curl up and cry - especially because I know all of the assignments, deadlines and appointments penciled into my planner mean I won't have time to clean until Thursday night.

But when I do have free time, vacuuming and scrubbing the toilet is the last thing on my mind, and I often opt to relax and have a beer with the friends I haven't seen all week.

Now, I'm well aware living in a pigsty and eating crap fast food all the time is contributing to my mounting midsemester stress. To be proactive, I bought a time management book - which of course I haven't had time to read yet.

Providing students with any advice on cleaning up their acts would be the blind leading the blind in my case. But what I can tell you is the Student Learning Center and the Counseling and Wellness Center offer services to help students who are feeling overwhelmed and stressed out.

If you can relate to my dirty dilemma, utilize these resources. I know I will - as soon as I find time.

Nicole can be reached at
featureseditor@theorion.com

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