Hope Randall
The Real World
"I just found out there's no such thing as the real world.
Just a lie you've got to rise above."
Who would have thought John Mayer lyrics would be my personal mantra for the months preceding graduation? But, I happen to believe them.
Most of us have been hearing about the "real world" of responsibility all our lives. My personal experience is, I believe, fairly typical.
In kindergarten, I was told that first grade was serious business. No more group tables or snack time: it was a world of solitary desks and independence, and the description frightened me to death.
In fourth grade, the transition to the dog-eat-dog world of middle school may as well have been a rite of passage to adulthood. Teachers, we were warned, would no longer hold our hands through our homework or tolerate any petty excuses.
Then there was high school, the field of preparation for that ultimate "real world" known as college. A new atmosphere away from home, preparation for a specific career, and the harrowing experience of doing our own laundry, certainly seemed like elements of the real world if a checklist ever existed. And yet, we each found our own comfortable routine in this new place.
The mystique surrounding college vanished when we learned proper study habits (or rebelled against them), made friends, figured out how to keep our shirts the same size before and after laundry day. Most of us have wondered along the way if perhaps college isn't the terrifying "real world" it was cracked up to be.
This realization brings me and the rest of this year's seniors to this moment in time, to the last trimester before our entrance into. . .the "real world"? I've grown skeptical of the concept.
Why frighten us about the pressures of the real world instead of encouraging us to shape our world moment by moment? Clearly, the "real worlds" of elementary school, middle school, high school, and college were not as formidable as some would have us believe. We have pieced together the puzzle step by step, and there is no reason that our future approach need be any different.
I believe faith and optimism are far more effective motivators than fear and doubt. We should teach the upcoming generation to embrace the future in hope, instead of frightening them into timidity. Our lives are not some preparation for a cataclysmic "real world" moment, but a journey of growth. The "real world" is, after all, what we make of it, and we have proven thus far that we have what it takes. Seniors, I believe we can look ahead with confidence to making the "real world" a place worthy of pride. Embrace that world that you choose to construct with your lives. Carpe Diem.
About Hope Randall
Hope Randall is a senior English major who hopes to attend graduate school and pursue work in the museum field. Regarding her favorite aspect of Mercyhurst, Hope states: "The faculty is incredibly supportive and available to their students. I have never doubted their willingness to do whatever they can to help me succeed."