Back to School Days

Every year around August 23rd I am reminded of all the years I headed back to class at the University of Idaho.

College, as cliche as this sounds, was the best time of my life.  There is a freedom to becoming an adult and finding out what type of adult you want to be without all of the adult responsibilities.  It was a great time and I wouldn't be the person I am now if I hadn't had the experiences in college that I had.

Here are things that I fully recommend all college students should experience...

• Find yourself a sidekick.
• Mine was Kate and we were inseparable for most of our college years.  We bonded over our love of Frank Sinatra and we were different enough to bond us.  We have matching tattoos on our necks and are still great friends despite not seeing each other often (she is a costumer in Hollywood - busy busy - and y'all know about me).  But the Kate and Megan years of my life were some of my most defining ones.

Kate and I used to go on drives around the Palouse when we really should have been in class but we would find cool things... like teepees and Buffalo farms.

• Have an unrequited love.
• Did this and it hurts like hell but it makes you appreciate the next one all the more.  I think having my heart broken like this helped me be the girlfriend and now wife to my husband that I wouldn't have been if I hadn't had this experience.
• Have close friends of the opposite sex.
• Besides Kate my other bestie in college was Danny and we are still friends to this day who can talk about everything from sports to reality tv.  Guy friends are awesome because they add a dimension to your life that you just don't get with girl friends.

This is from a photo booth at an arcade.  I love that it is a polaroid and not a strip.

• Do things that are outside your comfort zone.
• I spent my first semester of college in my dorm room studying and being sad.  I wasn't making friends, I was homesick and I almost gave up.  But at Christmas I made a promise to myself that I was going to try something new when I got back to school.  I was going to get out, make friends and see if I still hated college.  Turns out I didn't and that was when I met Kate and did lots of (crazy) fun things.  Sometimes you can't wait for things to come to you.  You just have to get up, go out and take yourself to the good things.
• Indulge in some debauchery.
• This is the only time in your life when it is socially acceptable and later on you will be able to laugh about the stupid things you and your friends did.  The craziest thing I did was play a game called Bumper.  I will not share anymore details but I still grin and shake my head thinking about it.

What is something you would add to a list of must experience things in college?