Living on Your Own

Quiet and busy are two words that can describe this past week, it was my first experience living on my own. Unfortunately there are no pictures to include in this post because I was the person doing all of the cleaning, washing, and mowing. Living on your own is an exponential learning curve, frozen pizza was fine the first night but soon I began to cook and actually use the kitchen, eventually making black bean and quinoa burgers. Aside from cooking I learned a lot about making a schedule and running a household.

Living on my own had a sense of independence as I was able to go to sleep at any time and I was able to choose what I ate. My 4:40am alarm for the gym pushed my bedtime to around 9pm and my curiosity in the kitchen grew. Need a reality TV series idea? Just create a show based on people learning how to live on their own. My first time cooking burgers was a success but it looked like a storm just passed through the house piling pans, measuring cups, olive oil, and quinoa on the counters.

I imagine this is what recent grads feel like as they enter the “real world” for the first time. Instead of focusing all the attention on studies and work, the everyday household chores compete for time. Learning how to do the necessary activities the correct way took some time, similar to learning anything in a new class or at a new job. This past week I easily ran at least 20 minutes behind due to emptying the dishwasher, folding clean clothes, and watering the lawn. To all the parents and guardians out there, I tip my hat to you for balancing it all. I eventually fell into a schedule: early morning wake up, gym, yard work, actual work, summer classes, homework, dinner, and ended with a bit of cleaning. For 6 days I continuously was moving around to keep up with the house on top of my regular schedule.

It only took a week to come to the conclusion that: 1) I like being around other people, 2) I will enjoy my time before the “real world” and 3) I need more practice mowing the lawn.