College
College was the best four years of my life. And, I am not exaggerating.
I have visited my Alma Mater many times over the past 16 years. Weekend trips. Day trips. With my husband (who also went to UW Madison). With my kids. And, with one or two friends here and there.
But, this past weekend I went away with 7 of my college friends to Madison. We had been talking about doing this for 5 years. We would start the dialog. And, we'd get excited. But, in the years of career switches, weddings and babies we found that we couldn't get our act together. It just wasn't the right time.
So, after 5 years of dialog...5 years of not accomplishing this goal. We found a weekend that actually wasn't a conflict for all 8 of us. We booked the hotel. 6/8 of us booked flights. Football tickets were purchased. And, baby sitting arrangements (husbands and grandparents) were made for the 15 kids between the 8 of us. Busy work schedules were cleared. And, we finally made it happen.
It seems like something like this should be so simple. Find a weekend. Book it and go. But, life gets in the way. By being gone for 48 hours I missed two hockey games and two goals that my son scored. And, while we didn't sit around and talk about what we missed the entire time, I am pretty sure we all missed something. But, it was well worth it. We went to bed at 3:30 and slept in. We went to a football game, stayed for the 5th quarter (yes, Madison has an amazing 5th quarter) and walked home alongside the band. We ate late night pizza with macaroni and cheese on it or potatoes (I think) on top...among a sea of 20 year olds. It was fun. It was like none of us had kids or stress or jobs or a life outside of Madison....for 48 hours.
Very little sleep. A lot of laughs. We even got carded a few times. Between the 8 of us...3 cameras broke, but we were able to get about 400 hundred pictures to capture this moment. Literally. The weekend came and went. And, then the reality of life set back in. A few of us talked today about having post trip depression. I definitely do. I thought about the moment when I walked down Langdon street thinking "I am in college". And, I remember the day that I left Madison filled with sadness that I would never be in college there again. Obviously, life needs to move forward, but I am getting further and further away from this time period of my life. I realize that my stresses of 18, 19, 20 and 21 are minimal to the ones that I have now. I realize what a sacrifice it was for my parents to send me to a good 4 year college. I realize that the girls who are living in my sorority house now will eventually be 38. Because they only get 4 (maybe 5 if they are lucky) years, also.
So, if you haven't done it yet, I urge you to get together with a group of your friends and go visit your college. Get crazy. Get emotional. It's worth it. Even if it's just for 48 hours.
I have visited my Alma Mater many times over the past 16 years. Weekend trips. Day trips. With my husband (who also went to UW Madison). With my kids. And, with one or two friends here and there.
But, this past weekend I went away with 7 of my college friends to Madison. We had been talking about doing this for 5 years. We would start the dialog. And, we'd get excited. But, in the years of career switches, weddings and babies we found that we couldn't get our act together. It just wasn't the right time.
So, after 5 years of dialog...5 years of not accomplishing this goal. We found a weekend that actually wasn't a conflict for all 8 of us. We booked the hotel. 6/8 of us booked flights. Football tickets were purchased. And, baby sitting arrangements (husbands and grandparents) were made for the 15 kids between the 8 of us. Busy work schedules were cleared. And, we finally made it happen.
It seems like something like this should be so simple. Find a weekend. Book it and go. But, life gets in the way. By being gone for 48 hours I missed two hockey games and two goals that my son scored. And, while we didn't sit around and talk about what we missed the entire time, I am pretty sure we all missed something. But, it was well worth it. We went to bed at 3:30 and slept in. We went to a football game, stayed for the 5th quarter (yes, Madison has an amazing 5th quarter) and walked home alongside the band. We ate late night pizza with macaroni and cheese on it or potatoes (I think) on top...among a sea of 20 year olds. It was fun. It was like none of us had kids or stress or jobs or a life outside of Madison....for 48 hours.
Very little sleep. A lot of laughs. We even got carded a few times. Between the 8 of us...3 cameras broke, but we were able to get about 400 hundred pictures to capture this moment. Literally. The weekend came and went. And, then the reality of life set back in. A few of us talked today about having post trip depression. I definitely do. I thought about the moment when I walked down Langdon street thinking "I am in college". And, I remember the day that I left Madison filled with sadness that I would never be in college there again. Obviously, life needs to move forward, but I am getting further and further away from this time period of my life. I realize that my stresses of 18, 19, 20 and 21 are minimal to the ones that I have now. I realize what a sacrifice it was for my parents to send me to a good 4 year college. I realize that the girls who are living in my sorority house now will eventually be 38. Because they only get 4 (maybe 5 if they are lucky) years, also.
So, if you haven't done it yet, I urge you to get together with a group of your friends and go visit your college. Get crazy. Get emotional. It's worth it. Even if it's just for 48 hours.
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