College Tip 8: You Won’t Be Done Growing at the End, and That’s OK
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*The following is an excerpt from the poem “I’m Growing,” which is featured in my poetry collection.
I’m Growing
I’m 21 years old, but I still have a lot of growing to do.
And that’s not vertically.
Unfortunately, I can’t be helped in that department
because I stopped growing sophomore year of high school.
I often joke with my tall friends,
asking them if they would be so kind as to use PayPal to lend my 5’4” self some of their height.
It definitely doesn’t help being short at the bars
when people are shoving and pushing and shoving again to get through.
Even if I hold on to my friends’ hands,
I end up getting lost in the crush of people.
My soft “excuse me”s end up being muffled
by Post Malone songs with the bass boosted to an unhealthy level.
Sometimes, I have to jump for them to see me.
I’m lucky there’s not a height requirement to go to bars.
I don’t think I’ll ever grow into being comfortable at the bars,
and I’ve accepted that.
Some people might call me a nerd
with my oversized glasses and my blue Crocs,
and I’ll embrace it because someday,
I’ll be their boss.
Then, there’s the trip I took to the grocery store
when I was shopping for my very first apartment.
My dad asked me if I needed any dishwashing liquid.
I responded with,
“Dish washing liquid? I don’t have a dishwasher.”
A lady right next to us started bursting out in laughter.
Sometimes, I really don’t think and it shows.
My apartment is pretty tiny,
and when I got back to school for second semester,
I discovered a roach living his best life in one of my food cabinets.
I only pay $350 for rent, so I guess I’m getting what I paid for.
There was the process of calling the exterminator on the phone.
I’m so used to texting that I get really fidgety on the phone
and forget to say the reason I’m calling a lot of the time.
I was able to explain that there were little crawly things in our kitchen,
but my voice was shaking the entire time.
I need to start working on my confidence on the phone.
The nervousness wasn’t helped by the lady calling me “ma’am”
multiple times on the other line
after I repeated my name multiple times,
but I know it wasn’t worth correcting her.
After all, I know my voice is a little more feminine,
and I don’t hold it against anyone if they mistake it for a woman’s.
Luckily, we got the bugs taken care of,
but come to think of it,
I haven’t taken out my jar of peanut butter
to eat with a spoon in a while.
Hopefully, there’s no bugs in it.
I’ll check as soon as I’m done writing this, I promise.
If the little guy’s still there, I’ll ask him to open the online portal and pay his share of the rent.
This week, I’ve missed three classes because I was sleeping.
It doesn’t help that it’s been snowing,
and the main quad is smothered in the flurry.
I won’t lie,
the snow latches on to the barren branches of the trees,
and white crystals embrace the arms of Alma Mater.
It’s quite pretty.
But it’s mid-February at this point,
and I’m so over the snow by now.
This cold can stop whenever it’s ready.
Nice try, bitter cold, but you will never stop me from drinking an iced coffee.
*Note: Even after graduating, I still have some growing to do. And even if you think you’re done growing, every day is an opportunity to learn something new. Mistakes are inevitable, but not giving up on yourself for making them is one of the best things you could do.
In this article series, I share excerpts and stories from my book, Are These the Greatest Years?. I hope you enjoyed this post — if you enjoyed it and want to connect you can reach me here via email dominicrose50@gmail.com or connect with me on social:
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Also, you can find my book on Amazon — here is the link to buy it: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08DTJMMTQ/
