I remember coming to university and my responsibilities hitting me like a fast-moving train, even with the safety blanket of living in catered halls. I wasn’t ready to be an adult yet, I certainly didn’t feel like one, and I was overwhelmed by the thought and having to grow up and go it alone. Two years later and I feel like a grown-up, independent woman (sort of). So, I have compiled an extensive, helpful list of signs you’re becoming an adult, in case you are in any doubt.
- Everyone around you starts getting married, talking about mortgages and having kids. Every time I go on Facebook or Instagram I’m bombarded with pictures and statuses of people doing very adulty things. Whilst I’m having a few too many bevs in Ocean and swinging my top over my head, there are people my own age with small children running around. It’s very baffling.
- You look forward to doing a nice big food shop. I don’t know if it’s just me being a fat shit, but Aldi is like my second home. There’s nothing more cathartic than filling up your empty kitchen cupboards and opening the door to a plentiful fridge. When I was younger I always took it for granted that there would be a vast variety of food in the house. Now that I’m feeding myself, food shopping is much more satisfying. Online food shopping is better still, even if my cooking abilities are not on point.
- You find washing-up oddly therapeutic. At the end of a long hard day of procrastinating, blaring out some music and having a boogie whilst I do the washing-up has become a new favourite ritual of mine. A bit of Stevie Wonder always puts me in the mood to grab my washing-up gloves. I can’t be dealing with those animals who leave dirty pots and pans everywhere for weeks on end. Luckily, none of my housemates fall into this category, but you guys know who you are.
- You get excited by the prospect of buying homely decorations. When me and my housemate moved into our new house we bought matching cushions, reed diffusers, fairy lights and photo frames to put in our living room. Not forgetting our ‘Big Willy’ poster of good old Shakespeare. Every time I enter the house it’s like a haven of relaxation and cosiness. It’s the little things that count.
- You look forward to going to bed, rather than having a heavy night-out. Looking back at young, naïve first-year Sophie, I don’t know how I managed going out on the town (dear me, I sound like my mother) three times a week. Now, I’d rather curl up on the sofa watching re-runs of Come Dine With Me and eating ice-cream straight out of the tub. Although I can’t deny that I’m partial to the odd Crisis, there’s an inner 70-year-old who disagrees.
Whether you squirm at the thought of dealing with bills and your Henry hoover hasn’t seen the light of day since you moved in, or you feel like a fully-fledged kick-ass adult with weekly expenditure spreadsheets, university is undoubtedly a time of self-growth. Let’s embrace it and nail it now, before we actually enter the world of stable employment.
Sophie Hunt
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