Growing Up

This weekend was formal... always a great time. We all got ready during the day, headed out to dinner, then to formal to dance the night away. Formal in college is probably a little bit different than you might think. In high school, Prom is always such a big deal and it's so much fun to get all dressed up in formal dresses and tuxedos. I loved Prom in high school, that's for sure, but formal in college is very relaxed. Most of my friends all wore casual summer-ish dresses that we got for a low price on a random shopping trip. There are some people that wear old Prom dresses and things like that, but it's nice to just go to have fun, not just for the dress :). Formal is a great example, I think, of a change a lot of college students, including myself, have gone through. I only went to one of my Proms in high school, but even that was such a big deal because "you have to go to Prom." It's hard because there is such a social pressure to have the right date, the right dress, go to the right restaurant for dinner, etc. It almost seems as though people go to a lot of events in high school for the simple fact that your peers make you feel like you have to in order to fit in or be cool. Pressure like that fades a lot in college. People do things because they want to, not at all because people make you feel like you have to go. Everyone that was at formal bustin' a move was there because they wanted to have a good time and dance with friends. I think that college is a lot more fun because of that. Don't get me wrong - I loved high school a lot... it was a blast and definitely four of the best years ever, but since then I have had 3.5 even better years here at college because me and my friends do things that we want to do and things that we think are fun, not just things that everyone else is doing. I love that, and am so glad that it's part of growing up, and part of college. Man, I really love this place.

Here's to doing things YOU want to do,
Mary