The 'real' real world

A confession, if you will: earlier this week, I reached a new low. I found myself procrastinating from my work by registering for the GRE. Now, I realize that this does not seem all that bad. And, it is not that bad, until you follow that action to its logical conclusion. Gone are my days of snood and Instant Messenger. Gone is joking about the "real world." Suddenly, it seems to be rapidly approaching.

When I returned to Tufts after spending my junior year abroad, I thought that the hardest transition was going to be getting used to being back on campus. Wrong. Instead, it is the slow and sometimes imperceptible transition from undergraduate to alumni that is getting to me. Right now, the thing that I can say with certainty with regards to my future is that I will be receiving phone calls from Tufts asking me to donate money for the rest of my life.

With so much preparation for the future, it is getting even harder to figure out what the future is. I can tell you one thing, though. I have developed a slight fear of acronyms. Between GREs, MCATs, LSATs, MBAs, MFAs, MAs, and Ph.Ds, my life has begun to look a lot like a bowl of alphabet soup gone horribly awry, and that is just assuming I choose to go on for more school. And, if I do, there is the whole application process with which I must contend.. Remember that? Why will you be a vital asset to our community? Tell us everything about yourself in 200 words or less, and we mean everything. The only thing that got me through it the first time was the knowledge that the first time would probably be the only time. Wrong again.

But, going the "real world" route will not save me. They have applications, too. During my freshman year, I could not wait to get out into the real world, to have my own apartment, and my own job. Now, four years later, having my parents buy groceries and pay rent bills is becoming more and more appealing. I keep hoping that they will tell me what I should be doing next, but they seem to be operating under the false assumption that I am an adult and can therefore handle such important decisions. Am I regressing? And, more importantly, am I the only one who feels this way?

For those of you in your final year, like me, I wish you the best _ in 200 words or less of course. And, to you underclassmen, I say this: volunteer, get involved, go abroad, work your summer internships, live your lives, but do not trick yourself for one moment into thinking that you can escape the "real world".

Hillary Tisman is a senior majoring in English