Due Wednesday, 13. February 2013
So, you've looked at what you want to leave, what you want to keep, what you want to try and what you do not want to study. In all this mix and all the mixed feelings, there is the glimmer of light in setting off on a new adventure. What is the most exciting thing about yours? What are you most looking forward to to about this major life change?
I believe my answer to this question is, “What isn’t there to look forward to?” I will be leaving my parents’ nest and flying on my own. What can’t be exciting about that? There’s a first time for everything. Although it will be a difficult separation, I will now be taking my life into my own hands. What I’m really looking forward to is proving that I can stand on my own two feet. Leaving home will mean doing my own laundry, doing my own grocery shopping, managing my own money, being more responsible, and managing my time. I find this to be super exciting. For once, I will actually feel like a true adult who will be responsible for the consequences that will come along with the actions that I will or won’t make.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in middle school, I was always counting the years until I would turn eighteen. For some reason, turning eighteen seemed so cool, at the time! My eighteenth birthday is in two months, however, it isn’t what I’m mostly excited about anymore. Finishing high school, graduating, getting my diploma, and going off to university, is what I’m looking forward to. I am truly excited about becoming more responsible than I am today, growing as an individual, meeting new people, and finding my true place in a community. This turning point in my life has been what has given me the courage to wake up every morning ready to go to school. It has been what has pushed me to always try my hardest during these last few months of high school because I know that they will never come back.
Although I am thrilled about this major life change, it will be a tough separation. The mix of emotions that I have been feeling since January have not been too pretty but I am sure that when the time will come, I will be ready to fly on my own.
Are you planning to live off campus in an apartment of your own? If you live on campus, one of the best things is the plethora of prepared food available to you. You should not have to ever set foot in a grocery store if you have a meal card. And don't fret over laundry, just make sure to keep plenty of quarters ready. Most resident halls have laundry in the basement - no stress at all. I see most of you ready to take on the responsibility of running your own lives. Enjoy every minute of it, but enjoy the last few weeks of having your family around, too.
ReplyDeleteDespite the fact that I’ll be leaving the two most important people, my mommy and daddy, I’m really looking forward to being on my own, meeting new people, having a new class schedule, getting new teachers, starting a new daily routine and just opening a new chapter in my life, a big one! Boston. Every time I hear or see this word, it just speaks to me. Everyone tells me “Boston is the place to be for university” “it’s truly a college town” “the restaurants are amazing” “there are a ton of international students” “night life is crazy” Why wouldn’t I be excited to be exposed to all that? It encompasses everything I like.
ReplyDeleteMy parents prefer that I live in an apartment off campus which I’m totally fine with. What I’m really looking forward to about having my own apartment is that I can tastefully decorate it and invite friends over for dinner. Oh I forgot to mention, I’m going to get a cookbook and invite people over every weekend for a new recipe. I’m always the one who’s eating; why not learn how to cook right? Friends? You’re probably wondering, “How many friends could she possibly have?” Well I’ll obviously make a bunch of new friends in university, but KinCity will always be there. The one thing about Kinshasa is that it never leaves you, I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing but in this case it’s a positive. There are a whole bunch of students from TASOK who are currently attending schools in Boston. So I can’t wait to have a huge TASOK reunion at my very own apartment. I know nostalgia will hit me, especially for the first semester but at least I’ll have people to resort to and remind me of home.
Depending on the school you choose, your social life will be fairly limited if you are a commuter student. While social life on campus does happen 24/7, there a many, many impromptu things that revolve around life in a residence hall - just having people (and action) around you - literally 10 feet away - does make for more varied and dynamic moments. If you live off-campus, much of your time will be eaten up on mass transit - just getting to campus and back, shopping for food, cooking it, cleaning house, etc. The decision is ultimately up to the ones paying the bills, but don't completely discount the advantages of on-campus life. At least now I know why you are ready for self-defense classes.
DeleteFor the first time, I will get to experience winter; I will get to see snow; I will get the chance to wear boots and coats and scarves. After all those times of seeing snow on television or pictures, I will finally get the chance to feel that white, cold, substance that I’ve always imagined to be fluffy and soft, but from what I’ve heard, feels just like crushed ice. This feeling is so overwhelming that part of me wishes I were already in University in Canada making snow angels with my friends, just like in the movies! I know, I know, I probably sound like a pathetic little girl, but hey, you can’t blame me for never having the chance to experience this before.
ReplyDeleteYou see, my family never really travels during Christmas break, mostly because my parents’ work gets really busy and hectic during that period. But even if I could travel, Christmas and New Years just wouldn’t be the same without them, and so I would definitely give up my trip to stay here with them.
As I sit here typing away, I can already picture myself standing in the middle of Dundas Square, in the busy city of Toronto, all bundled up in layers and layers of warm clothes, black uggs, a gigantic coat, a warm scarf, and even ear muffs. Truth is, behind all this excitement, deep down, I know for sure that winter in Canada will be the end of me. I mean, I’m a girl who has spent her entire life in a country where the climate doesn’t really get any colder than 19°C and yet, I am constantly complaining about how it is way too cold in Mr.Gjullin’s classroom. How am I supposed to get through winter in a country where it’s known to be one of the worst? Honestly, winter in Toronto during my freshmen year in University should indeed be a memorable one, and although I’m looking very forward to it, I dread the part where I will probably want to cry and return back to this warm tropical climate just because the cold will be too much for me to handle.
I had the same romantic views of snow before the ONE winter I spent in it. Like you, I had never worn long sleeves before and had visions of myself ice skating and hiking through the snow and sledding. When I actually saw it the first time, it was 2AM and we were getting home from a Debate trip - my car was just a white lump in the parking lot and my students had to teach me how to uncover it using my sleeve (which then was drenched and cold). It took me 2 hours to drive home - normally a 20 minute commute. I stayed inside all winter and gained 35 pounds because I was always cold and hated even breathing the cold. Somehow, I think you will be better with it. I was over 50 at the time and living in a VERY rural area - my property had 9 horses, 3 sheep, 6 goats, 5 dogs and was about 10 km from the closest neighbors, so it felt even colder. Enjoy - coming home for Christmas in DRC or Kenya will be awesome.
ReplyDeleteAlthough it scares me, I am looking forward to leaving my parents behind. I love my parents with all of my heart but I think it is time I left home now. I am at the point in my life where I want to go out with my friends and not have to ask or tell anybody, I want to do something and not have to explain myself to anybody and I want to just be my own person, but I still need their money. I am looking forward to the new experiences and adventures I will be taking on my own without a guardian or somebody looking over me at all times. I want to make my own mistakes and have to fix them by myself but still get the pocket money from my parents; I think that is the only thing that will still keep us in touch.
ReplyDeleteBut on a serious note, I want to have the feeling of missing my parents, I want to know what it will really feels like to not have them around and be an adult and take care of myself for a change. I am looking forward to the life beyond home, beyond my parents care and guidance and most of all, I am looking forward to knowing what will become of me. I can’t wait to meet the new me, the adult version of me. I noticed that once people get out of high school and move out of home, they automatically have this maturity in the way they are and everything they do, I am looking forward to that happening to me. It will be a big step for my parents, and me, but it will be the step that begins my life and were I end up as a person.
Doesn't it count that you have been away from your parents all year?
ReplyDeleteI am looking forward for a better and brighter future. Now all that I care and think about is my future career. I know I can’t guarantee a better and brighter future but I can try to achieve one. I know leaving home, friends, and family would be hard but, we all have to experience this, our parents did and so will our kids and we and so on. I remember when I was in elementary I wanted to experience high school now that am in high school I want to experience college and after college I want to experience in starting my own business and to earn money. Therefore, the only thing that I am looking forward to now is to get my degree and start my own interior designing career. I am very excited and scared about my career. Scared because I don’t know if will succeed in becoming an interior designer. I do not want to become just an interior designer; I want to become the best interior designer.
ReplyDeleteLofty goals. This is good, but don't neglect enjoying uni by worrying about getting out and working - enjoy each step.
DeleteFor many of us going to university is absolutely a unique, exciting, solely, and a curious experience. You’re leaving everything behind to go experience something extremely new. Although I am very very very excited to go to Dubai the thought of being separated from family keeps the excitement down. Many people keep telling me that Dubai is the place to be it is very beautiful indeed but since I’ve never lived there so I have no idea of the nightlife or the teen life out there. I can’t imagine living on my own. Honestly I’ve never cooked food myself or tried to. I have the best mom who prepares everything on the table and then calls me to eat. I am so sure that nothing is ever going to be the same there. Since the beginning of the year I’ve been counting days till i graduate but the closer we’re getting to graduation the worst I’m starting to feel. I’ve never been away from my parents, not even for a month. So I think you can picture how difficult the separation will be.
ReplyDeleteI will obviously be living on campus that provides no food which makes me very depressed but eventually I’ll manage. But what I’m truly looking forward is to live all by myself and deal with the freedom that I’ve never got before. I want to know-how is feels to have no one to tell me what and how to do things. I think it’s time for me to learn how to make decisions. This will be the first step on building my inner self and the turning point in my life.
Interesting experience - a uni that provides no food or housing. A bit sad, too. What sort, if any student life do they have? Is it just one big commuter school where you live alone and commute to daily classes with no sense of community? Or is it built around community but just no food? You will be living a very different life than your classmates here are heading to the US or Canada. Enjoy. You will be homesick at times, but with the internet, mobile phones, and cameras, you won't even notice being away most of the time.
DeleteI am excited about the whole thing: being able to go to classes I care about and learning things that will actually help me get to where I’m trying to go, also meeting new people, and making new lifelong friends who share my passions. Whenever I think about college I mainly thing about the things I am looking forward to, so most of the things I am anticipating I have already explained in previous blog posts. College will increase my passion for music as I will be able to learn more about it from classes and privet teachers. Also I am excited to start learning about computer programming, after all, gaining a Computer Science degree is why I am going there.
ReplyDeleteI know it will be somewhat sad to leave my family, but it does bring a few benefits. I interact quite differently with people when I email or chat as appose to talking in person. It’s not that I become a different person when I chat, I just think of different things to say. Since I haven’t ever had much time away from my family I have only interacted with them in person, but as I am forced to start emailing them instead I feel as though I will get to know a different side of each one of them. It will be interesting to see the difference. Also, next year I will be able to be around my extended family more which will be both new and delightful for me.
You're right, we do communicate differently in person vs over electronic means or even via letter. Since you like to think before you talk, I'm betting you will discover some very different things about the family closest to you. Getting to know extended family will be interesting, too.
DeleteThe idea of going on the other side of the world, where nobody will have an idea of who I am sounds very exciting. I have always thought about living home one day and going to new place to explore different things. One of the reasons that have made me want to leave is because; I have always seen other people leave. I want to experience how it feels to leave everything behind and open a new window. Now that I am getting closer to leaving, I am becoming more conscious of everything it takes to leave your home, and to live your family. I came to understand the meaning of it and I feel ready for the change. I will trust myself in all the decisions I will be making from now on. Although, I always waited for this day, I know it will be one of the hardest of my life. When this day arrives, I will be in tears but those tears will not only express my sadness, but as well as my joy.
ReplyDeleteThe most exciting part that I am looking forward to is to be the new girl in town, meeting new people, and exploring things on my own. I want to bring a taste of my culture in the new world. I will use my diverse background, and experiences to tell my story about where I am from. I want to make a difference in my future community and connect with individuals from different backgrounds. I want to be the African girl who will give those around me an image about Africa that they never knew. I want to take chances and go for new adventures. I believe that you find hidden passions when you try new things. All these wishes are all part of my anticipation about the new life that is waiting for me on the other side of the world.
You're going to have an amazing time next year - your attitude is wide open to everything and that makes you ripe for new experiences. Enjoy.
DeleteI am really excited about going to college. There are lots of things I am looking forward to do; first of all my brother and I are supposed to have an apartment around Brussels, so I just can’t wait to live the independent life, with no parents to control what you are doing or who you are inviting home. Yeah it is funny because I am twenty and my parents have gotten a little bit cooler, but they are still controlling everything I do. So I guess that when you’re still using daddy’s money and asking him for things, you are unfortunately still under his parental control. But in college I won’t be with my parents, so I will definitely have more freedom: yes…I won’t have to ask or warn anyone before I go out at night…yihaa! So I will take as much advantage as I can to live my life the way I want it.
ReplyDeleteI also am really looking forward to work hard to succeed in life, to meet a lot of random people and to do a lot of sport. I am very determined to succeed and to realize all the projects I will intend to achieve. I don’t think I sacrificed enough time to work during my highschool life. I wished I was very organized and dedicated myself at a 90 percent in every class I took. But this time there will neither be parents, nor family or whoever to tell me what to do, so I will have to work hard no matter what. I don’t even expect my brother to help me if I mess up. I will do anything to get everything under control myself. A catch phrase that I will always remember in college will be: “work harder and you’ll play harder” By Kevin Lecouturier (GK).
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ReplyDeleteIn my case, the biggest change would be “going back to where I am from.” I get excited when I think of going back to Korea, meeting my friends, and having good foods next year but when I think of all the works I have to go through after graduation, I just don’t feel the energy. Still there is something that I am looking forward to: freedom! Freedom, yes, is something that I need right now.
ReplyDeleteI have to go to school with my car, I need permission to use my car wherever I go, my parents have to pick me up when I am done…. are things that I am sick and tired of. I want to go to shopping mall at any time I want, I want to hang out with my friends late at night without worrying about how to get home, and I just need freedom in my life. I am 18 years old and I am old enough to take care of myself. My friends in Korea are attending universities but what am I doing? – I am in highschool. All the studies and work loads that I have are choking me – I NEED TO BREATHE.
I might be really busy when I get back to Korea this summer: preparing college applications, but I will be freer. When I start to attend university, which will be next year March, I will be having even more freedom. I will not have to study SATs or TOEFL but I will be studying what I want to study. More decisions will be made by me instead of my parents and I will be considered as an “adult,” since I am seen as a “highschooler” to people in Korea than a 18-year-old girl.
It would be a big change to go back to Korea after living oversea for 7 years but this is also part of my life. Moving on to “summer” of my life, I will be free as a bird.
Just the idea of using the excellent mass transit of Korea and having that freedom, along with the freedom of safety on the street does make me envy you...Take a deep breath and enjoy.
ReplyDeleteI might have mentioned this in earlier blogs, but I am indeed going to miss my entire class, the “Class of 2013”. Leaving Kinshasa and The American School of Kinshasa will be a massive change as a whole. TASOK is the only school I remember being in. It is also the one of the two schools I have ever attended. Having admitted this, it is obvious that going to college will be a big change for me. I am not used to changing schools, so making friends might not be an easy endeavor. I have also lived in a city where people (including me) throw rappers and any sort of garbage on the roads. Again, proof that going to college in the US will be a major change for me. And last but not least, leaving my family will be extremely tough as well.
ReplyDeleteGoing to the US is going to be like starting a new life for myself. Firstly, I do not think I am used to the “American culture”. Secondly, I know I am going to go ballistic on the food. What I do know about the US, is that the prices are much cheaper then almost anywhere else in the world.
In Kinshasa, I have had a great time with everyone and everything. But even though I’ve had a good sum of freedom here, college will give me even more freedom. It might be good or bad, who knows? I look forward to having the responsibility of being in charge of myself. The fact that I don’t have to ask anyone if I can leave the house makes me smile. I guess going to college is to learn to be disciplined, learn to be independent, and at the same time, just learn.
You will make friends. You are so outgoing and charismatic there is no way people can stay away from you. You may enjoy the food, but FYI, the US is one of the most expensive places to live and to shop. It is cheaper than here, but not by much.
DeleteI am 18 and out of that, I have only lived seven years of my life in my own country, India. It makes me feel weird that I have barely lived in my own country. I do not want to make my blog sound cliché by saying that I look forward to being independent. It is in fact true that I do look forward to being independent, but the thing that excites me the most is that I finally get to live in my country for at least eight continuous years. I love India; the name itself makes me nostalgic. I feel so comfortable when I am in India, it is a relief for me because it is so much easier to communicate and I can connect with people on a cultural level as well. I am really looking forward to bonding with my own country. I miss my family, friends, the spicy street food, and the cheap clothes, the cows on the street I am just ready to leave school and go to college. India here I come!
ReplyDeletevery heartfelt and expressed well.
DeleteThe exciting thing to me about going to college in Florida is being a whole new environment. It is not a state I go often to when I go the U.S, so it will seem as a different world to. Getting to know and appreciate a place that is really different from your hometown or natal country causes adrenaline rushes in me. We are talking about a different environment, culture, people, everything is different. So much to learn on the different ways and the culture: the tips on what to do and how to act, where not to go to avoid getting mugged.
ReplyDeleteWhat I look forward to the most, is the larger amount of independence I will have going to college. Of course, I will not abuse of it, but I am really looking forward to making even the simplest decisions of my life by myself without having to ask permission or give any type of reasons to parents or people responsible of me. Being more independent will make me feel like I have a little more control on my life and the turn it takes. I am not trying to say my life has been fully controlled up to now but with college I will get much more independence. Having to handle things by myself and living an adult life (without having to pay the bills) is what I really look forward to. Fall 2013, I am waiting for you.
Yes, please do learn where not to go to avoid muggings. The US is great, I'm American and I love it. But our cities are not as safe as they are here. Here people ask me for money, but I am not really fearful of them pulling a handgun, shooting me and then taking it. That's pretty normal in US cities. Please don't travel alone after dark. Take advantage of the campus escort service, even if you feel silly doing it. Enjoy the independence.
DeleteThere are several exciting things about going off to college, but I think the best thing of all will be the stability college will give me. For many moving to a whole new country will be challenging and exciting, but I have been doing that my whole life. Honestly the one thing I look forward to in college is knowing that once I get there I will not be moving for a while, I will not be changing schools (though transferring may be a possibility in the future) and starting all over again because of my parents work.
ReplyDeleteIn high school alone I've moved 3 times. Senior year I almost moved twice. All the uncertainty can be quiet unsetteling. So It would be nice for a change, to know where I will be the following year, unless I dropout or transfer, which in that case will be my decision and not my parents.
I've heard other "traveling" students say this as well. Enjoy.
DeleteHe he he he, Class of 2013 it was our last class today. Next thing up is senior night and then finally, finally graduation. We have waited for this for so long, I even feel like a graduate. Back to the issue, unlike many of my dear classmates independence or the encounter of a whole new environment is not what I am looking forward to going to college. Since I have turned 18, my parents have been giving me a great deal of independence, and I am even already using my card. In addition to they have traveled a lot through out this year along with my siblings so I am used to be home alone. I have a good experience of living alone and being independent to some extent. About a whole new environment, my whole life has been unstable, moving from a country to another because of my parent’s jobs. The changes between the places I have traveled to, are pretty drastic like leaving Tunisia to come here, different climate, culture and environment. All the time I have proved that I can easily adapt to an area or a style of life, even though like everyone, I have my expectations and demands.
ReplyDeleteWhat I am looking forward to is the new people I will meet and the great friends I am going to make myself. Those I know after my college years I will still see and share memories with about these four upcoming (I know for sure I can say) amazing four years. I really care about friendship and relations with people, and I hope that those I meet and will surround myself with will be the greatest because I must say I am a great person.
You have learned something very young that I realized much later: friends and relations are the core of who we are and what we do and how we experience life. Enjoy!
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