Negative Nancy to Positive Pam!

Most of my posts lately have been super depressing and negative.  I don't like being like that; admittedly I've been stuck in a rut for a while.  In an attempt to be more optimistic, here are a bunch of things I don't regret about college!

• Living at home.  It's definitely not for everyone, but I was glad I made the choice to live at home.  Not only did it save me an enormous amount of money, but I'm a homebody anyway and extremely attached to my family.  Living at home was a pain at times; my sister is my roommate and I still have to do chores.  On the upside, no being locked out of my room so my roommate can have drunk sex.  Plus it allowed me to be available and present for important events and I've grown closer to my mom and sister by staying close for the past four years.  

• Not writing off all of my friends who went away to school.  It's easy to part ways after high school and never speak to those you considered friends back then.  One of my friends went to Alabama, another to western Pennsylvania and the rest mostly spread across Massachusetts.  Lots of them got jobs and almost all of them are in extremely intensive and difficult academic programs, meaning they rarely have time to text or call little old me.  I've learned to be patient; it's unintentional neglect and it doesn't mean they don't love me.  I get busy and forget to respond to texts all the time -- this is partly because I'm forgetful and absentminded, and partly because my phone is not constantly glued to my thumbs.  Sorry folks; I prefer to live my life, not view it through Instagram.  It's important, though, that I realized I wasn't being left behind.

• Studying abroad.  I learned so much about myself while travelling and being forced into uncomfortable, alien situations.  They say you never know your significant other until you travel with them, but this goes for your individual self too.  If I could make one recommendation to other college students, it would be to study abroad - hands down.

• Picking one extracurricular and sticking with it.  I was totally one of those crazy overachievers in high school - thirteen clubs and activities...! I also held leadership positions in most of those clubs as well.  When I first started college, I joined several clubs and activities.  I am glad I did because I made lots of friends, most of whom I am still close to.  Eventually, I quit or stopped attending all except one because my life got too busy and I gained different priorities.  I still maintained my relationship with the stage; I stopped starring in productions because of the time commitment, but I continue to do stage hand work, lighting crew, directing and play-writing.  Picking one was an unintentional choice, but a natural one.  It's given me much more time to focus on family, school and work.  I'm still busy, even without all my extracurriculars!

• Attending college locally.  State universities are like Dunkin Donuts in my town - one on every corner and frequented by too many people you know.  I chose to attend my local university for several reasons: the other four schools didn't offer me financial aid, I wanted to be in close proximity to my boyfriend of the time and family, I was afraid I'd wind up with a crazy roommate (or a slutty one who would lock me out of the dorm)...  All in all, even though I was lonely during my freshman year, I still made friends and I don't regret the choice I made in the least.  I know now that even though I regretted the choice initially, it ended up being the right school for me and things that are meant to be happen in their own time.