college student – The Ponytail Chronicles

You’ll meet a lot of people when you attend college, but here are five people that you are for sure going to cross paths with:

1. The Partier

Oh boy. Here it comes! They’re gonna do something really stupid this time. I am not dragging their drunkenness home today. Don’t do it! Ah geez, they did it. They did the worm…on the floor…on the nasty bar floor.

There is always that one person at college that seems to spend every single weekend partying. No matter what their doing during the week or if they have to work at 8 am the next morning, they will be out drinking and dancing the night away. The amazing thing about these students is that no matter how much you think they slack off during the week because they party too hard, they will probably get better grades than you. It’s a phenomenon that I like to call “The Slacker but A+ Maker”. It will amaze you that they’re still in school and some nights when you’re at home studying hard, you will wonder why they were gifted with this incredible superpower, and you weren’t.

2. The Marathoner

FRIEND: “Are you good?”

ME: “Yeah, I’m fine!”

Sweet mother of cornbread I think my lungs are gonna burst. Uhhhhhhh! My body was not meant for this kind of crap! Okay, we’re almost done, I can see the finish line. I can almost taste the sweet victory of the greasy, cheesy bread-sticks I have been dreaming about since we started this stupid run.

FRIEND: “Oh, my gosh! That path looks so beautiful! Let’s take a quick turn here and then we can go back…are you sure you’re okay?”

ME: “Sure!”

WHAT THE F***! I’M NOT MADE OF MUSCLES! ALL I GOT ARE ROLLS OF LOVE!

There will always be the one person that is more athletic than the athletes themselves. Their attire will consist of either flamboyant yoga pants or multi-colored basketball shorts. You will see them all the time when you are on your way to various events, and they will always run by, smile, and wave. And as they pass, you’ll feel really guilty for all the exercise you haven’t done and the fact that you are on your way to get a giant slice of pizza. Don’t feel bad! We all have different exercise routines (if we have them at all) and some are just more excelled at it than others. I can speak from experience. If they ask you to go on a run with them, the answer is “no”. The answer should always be “no”. Unless you want to collapse and puke in front of a campus tour group and make a fool out of yourself (true story).

3. The Complainer

“FRIEND”: “Ugh! My day has been a literal piece of garbage. Like literally. I have soooo much to do. I have to do my laundry, go to work, and I have soooo much homework too. Ugh! And my boyfriend has been a real jerk this week, he laughed when I broke my nail in class the other day. DO YOU WANT TO KNOW HOW I BROKE IT? It was so horrible, Jeanie was all like….”

ME: “Uh huh.”

Wait, I lost track. How many ceiling tiles are there again? I’ll just count again. 1. 2. 3…

Honestly, as college students we are all prone to complain every now and then. It’s completely normal! Sometimes we have to release the stress of the day and vent to someone. I think that this is a really good way to relieve some stress and get someone else’s perspective. But there is a limit. And some people love to cross this limit. These are the people that will complain and complain and complain. Every conversation will start with “hello” and go immediately into what is wrong with their life. They will claim that they have the worst life ever (yes, because getting a college education is “so awful” and having a roof over your head is “so awful”). It will take a lot out of you to not verbalize these sarcastic remarks. But please don’t be mean about it. Maybe start with something gentle, like “WE ARE ALL BUSY! JOIN THE F***ING CLUB!”

4. The Crush That Goes Nowhere

CRUSH: “Hey.”

ME: “Hey.”

They just looked at me and said “hey”! Were they happy to see me? Or were they upset, maybe they don’t like me. It was the grey shirt, yup, they think I’m a dull freak. But I’m pretty classy…did I have something in my teeth? I’m just gonna adopt a lot of dogs, yup, I’m gonna be alone forever. I’m done with relationships! I’m just gonna ignore them now…

CRUSH: “Hey, do you have a pencil I can borrow.”

ME: “YES. YES, I DO. I HAVE 500 TO CHOOSE FROM. I LOVE Y…YUGOSLAVIA.”

Definitely stick with the dogs.

Ah yes. The allure of young love and romance. You’d probably be lying to yourself if you say that you’ve never had a crush before. I, unfortunately, have had plenty in my lifetime and pretty much all of them have gone nowhere. What I mean by “nowhere” is that you will have a crush on this person for the entirety of your college career, and it will be nothing more than that. You’ll admire from afar, but never get the chance, or maybe the nerve, to tell them. Now, you may be thinking “Why don’t you just talk to them? Maybe they’ll like you back? Why are you admiring from afar? Go get ‘em!” Well, all I have to say about that is: how would their significant other feel? Just saying.

5. The BFF for Life

BFF: “Hey.”

ME: “Hey.”

BFF: “Wanna drink wine and watch Disney movies?”

ME: “Hell yes”

BFF: “Hakuna-freakin’-matata here we come!”

This is the person that will make your life at college awesome. They’ll always be there for you on the days you want to chill, the days when you need to cry, the days when you need to laugh, and on the days when you want to nap on the couch while they watch HGTV. This is the person that you will always hang onto, even when you go your separate ways after you graduate. When you meet this person, you’ll know. And they’ll be the best part about college yet, except for the studying, classes, and educational stuff of course.

All in all, college is a great experience and you’ll meet a lot of awesome people that you’ll never forget!

I can tell you from personal experience that napping is the closest to heaven that you’ll ever get. Seriously, I usually go to sleep feeling like a queen and wake up like a zombie. So, for all my fellow nappers or wannabe nappers out there, here is a list of why naps can be a wondrous thing but can also be your ticket to starring in the next episode of The Walking Dead.

Pros

1. Get some extra rest. If you’re like me and part nocturnal animal, you know that bedtime usually occurs around 1-3 AM. My mind seems to crank up the creative juices around this time and I can’t seem to fall asleep. I end up doing homework, writing the next great American novel…okay that’s a lie. I usually end up in the deep dark depths of YouTube watching some montage of old 70’s commercials for 43 minutes (true story). But in all honesty, when I go to sleep at 3 AM and have to get up at 8 AM the next day, it’s nice to catch a few more hours of z’s.

2. The glorious feeling of cuddling into bed. There is nothing better than coming back after a long day and throwing yourself into your bed. You wrap yourself up in the covers, curl your body up, and breath out the words “I think I’m just going to marry my bed.”

3. “Don’t worry about a thing,” as Bob Marley would say. It’s one of the places, for me, that becomes a little safe haven. A place where I can go and leave my phone on my desk and just relax. I don’t have to worry about homework, work, text messages (my bad), or first world problems. Just taking a little time to unwind during the middle of the day is just as amazing as it sounds.

However, there are some negative side effects of taking naps during the middle of the day.

Cons

1. “Ain’t nobody got time for that!” Seriously, when you’re a full-time college student, part-time worker, have a Netflix binge list, and have a social life (yes, I do have one) it makes it nearly impossible to cut out a little time for yourself to indulge in a nap. Even when you join the working force and start #adulting, it becomes harder to find time to take a break.

2. Waking up and wondering what year it is. We have all done this before. Your eyes have just parted and you glance around the room for a second wondering where the t-rex with laser eyes just went. You lift your head up and wipe the drool from your chin. Then you wonder, where am I? This then turns into, what time is it? Then you read the time “8:32” on your bright phone screen and have a little moment of panic that your late for class. This lasts for a few moments until you realize your half-hour nap at 2 PM has just ended at 8:32 PM. Oops.

3. “Just 5 more minutes,” turns into “I’m late for work.” You can say this is an apology to my co-workers for knowing me as the girl that shows up late to work because you’ve hit the snooze button a few to many times. I work at night, so when I take these “short” naps during the day, I end up getting a little too cozy. The panic that ensues when I wake up makes me look like a drunk goose on the outside as I stumble out of bed and flip on the lights. Check my hair, check my clothes, text my boss “Well s***, I fell asleep, I’m on my way” (Sorry Anna). The punishment for this usually ends up being the embarrassment I feel when people start mentioning the sheet marks on my face. But hey, at least they never seem notice the drool stains.

Overall, naps can be a wonderful thing, but just remember to sleep in moderation. Being an avid napper myself, I highly recommend it, but just remember to be wary of its side effects. So, sleep on my friends, sleep on.

Tag: college student

The 5 People You’ll Definitely Meet in College