Published in the September 24, 2012 Issue of the Kishwaukee Kaleidoscope
It was the summer after I graduated high school. I had just turned 18 a couple weeks earlier, which enabled me to get a job as a counselor at a local summer camp. I think it is safe to say that job changed my life forever. There has never been such a short amount of time in which I have learned so much. In fact, I'm pretty sure I could fill the whole newspaper with all the lessons I've learned. There is one lesson in particular that I learned that summer, though, that I think can benefit everyone on this campus.
A couple weeks into my job, my coordinator dropped a copy of a letter into my mailbox. It covered some general guidelines that, in her eyes, would make us the best counselors we could be if we would just follow them. Although I forget the exact language now, she had written on the bottom of the page something along these lines: "Remember, you are an adult. Act like one, and don't let anyone treat you like a child."
"Wow," I thought. I think that reading that note was the exact moment when I realized that I actually was an adult, and needed to start acting like one. But how? Being an adult was still an entirely new concept to me. I had only legally been an adult for a few weeks. I didn't even really know what being an adult meant, and I wasn't sure what to do with myself.
Figuring out how to be an adult is hard. Everyone has to follow their own path to get there, so to speak. No one can just tell you how to do it. There is so much more to it than that. For me, it was realizing that I can't do everything myself. I need to ask for help. There are some things that I just physically cannot do. I hate having to admit that about myself.
The other part of my coordinator's message is the hardest part, I think. Sure, you can act like an adult, but how do you stop other people from treating you like a child? You can't control what other people do or how they act. I think what my coordinator was trying to let me know is that I should never let someone take advantage of me. I should never let someone put me down or intimidate me. We are all equals. I might not know everything, but neither does everyone else, and I shouldn't let them make me feel inferior or unintelligent, because there are things that I can do that no one else can. If there is someone who is attempting to treat me like a child, I need to stand up to that person, and let them know that I am not happy with their treatment of me.
Kougars, what I am trying to tell you is this. First, we are in college now. It is time to grow up, and act like we belong here. Start taking responsibility for yourself. You can start by showing up to class on time or getting your homework done when it is due and grow by degrees. Everyone learns how to be an adult at their own pace, but it is important to start learning now. Secondly, we are all in college together. Treat those around you accordingly, whether it be your teachers or your peers. We all deserve the same respect.
