Whoa! I'm sorry.....I thought we were adults now.

When I was a child, I spake as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a child: now that I am become a man, I have put away childish things. -I Corinthians 13:11


I remember, before going to college, hearing college students talk about "high school mess." At the time, I found it to be quite offensive. This whole notion that only high schoolers acted foolishly was quite evidently not true to me. But now that I've gone through four years of college, I see exactly what people mean!

For all of my peers who've been out of high school for a while, let me take you back. You remember people not liking you because their friend didn't like a friend of your friend's? High school. Remember people talking during class like they were having a phone conversation? High school. Remember name-calling? High school. Remember the blame game? High school. Actively trying to ruin someone else's reputation? High school. Talking behind people's backs? High school.

Now, I know some of you are saying, "Hold up! I've been through college and I can say, first hand, that all of those things are things that grown people do." And you'd be correct in that statement. I found that out my very first year of college. My point is that, in high school, these were things that were expected of you. You were young, immature, a know-it-all. People didn't expect for you to act like an adult because you weren't! While they did expect for you to exercise common sense, they didn't expect your common sense to be that of an adult's.

But now that you're an adult, you should "put away childish things."

1. Stop disliking people for no reason. "She think she cute," is not a reason to sneer at somebody everytime they walk past. "They've changed," is not a good reason either. Change is inevitable.

2. Be quiet during class! Maybe you're here for free, but everyone else is paying, and they're not paying to hear you whisper to your friend for an hour or two. If you don't have some sort of disorder, turn around, hush, and pay attention!

3. Calling people out of their given names should've stopped in third grade. Unless whatever you're calling them is meant as a compliment, go get their damn birth certificate, memorize the name on it, and call them that! Angry utterances are understandable, but constant name-calling? When I worked at the day care center, we used to have to advice the children against this sort of behavior. They were 3.

4. If you made the decision to do something that was not smart, and the consequences are negative, be an adult, step up, and take the blame. I know it's tough. Nobody likes to have their mistakes thrown in their face, but actually taking responsibility for your actions might just lessen their impact. Maybe people will understand if you're not pointing the finger at someone else. I went through this same sort of situation in my second year of college. I made a mistake that several other people participated in. In the end, I was the only one to step up and take the blame, and it severly impacted my life. But I have never looked back on that day in shame. I am proud that I stood up, took responsibility, apologized, and took my punishment like the grown woman that I am. And I didn't feel the need to tell everyone who the other involved parties were. They are responsible for them. I'm responsible for me.

5. If someone is a terrible person, soon enough, people will find out. If you find it necessary to publicly slander people and try to spread the news of their "evildoing" to others in a blatant attempt to spread scandal, they must not be that bad at all. There are, of course, exceptions to this rule.

6. If you have a legitimate (or what you perceive to be legitimate) problem with someone else, tell THEM. Unless they're doing something illegal and/or dangerous, telling other people about their faults will not solve or alter their perceived faults. Making negative comments about people while they are not present just makes you look immature. And if you have something to say about somebody that you can't say to their face, it also makes your comments sound unfounded. It sounds like you're too afraid that the truth will come out and you'll be put to shame. The only reason to say something "behind someone's back" is because they're not in the room for you to say it to their face.

I now see what my sister and her friends were referring to when they talked about "high school mess." They were talking about things that grown-ups shouldn't do, but do. They were talking about actions that were performed by people who expect the respect that grown-ups deserve but act like children who only deserve to be monitored. Now, I've been guilty of all 6 of these things WHILE in college, so I am not exempt from this. But I knew when I was doing it that it was childish and did not merit respect, and I tried hard to keep it from happening again.

So to all of my friends who are forced to deal with or are encountered by people who do "high school mess," much respect to you. Keep your adult head high and avoid the immaturity like the plague!

Peace & Progress!