Day 23: School's Out!

I was home-educated all the way up until college, and was blessed to receive a pretty excellent education. However, when I got to college, I quickly learned a lot of other things that I did not learn in “school”. And, subsequently, when I left college, the education-by-necessity continued. Ten years later, I’ve learned a lot of things, and even though I’m sure it would have been a lot easier had I had the knowledge ahead of time, I’m still grateful that I know it now.

-          Parallel parking really isn’t that hard. I know we all learned it in Driver’s Ed, but seriously, there is nothing like trying to get a car into a space that is maybe five inches longer than the car itself to teach you how to do it. Add in some packed snow in the streets, and, if you’re lucky, a speed bump smack dab in the middle of the only empty space within a six-block radius, and you’ll become a pro in no time flat. Promise.

-          It really is possible to survive comfortably on a steady diet of Chipotle and pasta with tomato juice. Not only possible, but delicious.

-          Watches are entirely unnecessary. Planners, on the other hand, are not. Get a good planner, and stick with it, otherwise your life will blow up in your face. (I've been using a basic planner I found at Barnes and Noble for the past few years, but I think next time I buy a planner, I'm going to buy an Erin Condren one, since I've read a lot of rave reviews!)

-          Showering every day, while always preferable, is definitely NOT required. Keep some wet wipes, deodorant, dry shampoo, and a hair tie and a headband with you, and you can handle anything. A little bit of perfume never hurts, either, so long as it’s not overpowering.

-          Box hair colors are really silly. Save up some money and get your hair done right at a salon if you really want it, or better yet, save all the money and just leave your hair the way it is. (I feel like in the interest of honesty, I should confess that even though I know this, I have still never gotten my hair colored in an actual salon, and always use box dyes. It’s terrible, I know.)

-          Being able to type fast is a really, really, really good thing. There’s never a time when being able to fly across a keyboard will be detrimental.

-          Knowing how to take good and efficient notes is an absolute MUST, whether you’re taking notes in a lecture or from a book. Find a method that makes sense to you, and use it. Always. Also, learn how to make efficient to-do lists, perhaps in the very necessary planner that was mentioned earlier.

-     Drink water like you’re getting paid to do it. You’ll never regret being really hydrated, but you will, at some point, regret not being hydrated. That point of regret might come after a night of heavy drinking, or it might come at 10:30 in the morning when your head hurts so bad that you want to stab yourself in the eye with a pencil. Either way, water is never a bad thing.

-          Eating at midnight really is okay if you’re hungry. Or sometimes even if you’re not. You may not have the world’s hottest body, but in the event that looking like a Victoria’s Secret model after the pictures have been airbrushed is not at the top of your list of things to do, then eat up.

What do you know?