USjournal Student Writer: Ain’t it Fun

Ain’t it Fun

by USjournal Student Writer: Rebecca Darrup, Cross-Country Cowgirl

Ain’t it fun, living in the real world, ain’t it fun, being all alone…

Well, these lyrics from the Paramore song Ain’t It Fun sound kind of dreary, but the song is actually really good; check it out sometime!

I guess it’s something with this time of year, I’m not sure, but it seems to scream for a reminder to lighten up and just have fun... I’ll give the credit and the blame for that to my Papa, who was my inspiration for an article to a similar tune this time last year. These always seem to get pretty serious, so I promise to keep this one a little less intense. As heavy as life can be, there’s lots of ways to keep it light.

Anywho, living in the real world (or on the verge of it, if you’re still in high school) can be as fun or as stressful as we choose. There are so many factors that can pile up and cause a freak-out session, not that I’m speaking from experience... Okay, yeah, I am. My last week or so has been spent calling my mom either with tears in my eyes or more than a little irritation in my heart. Classes are hard enough on their own, but then try to complete two online classes and two independent classes in the first six weeks of the semester, along with keeping up in three live classes. Crazy, right? But when I keep my focus, being finished with those classes will allow me to relax and enjoy our rodeo season a little bit more when we’re gone every weekend through March and into April.

Rebecca Darrup, Student Writer

Practice is tough, my teammates can get under my skin, I worry about my horses (and myself) staying healthy, my dog is a troublemaker, I fret over how much time I do and don’t spend with my boyfriend, and I’m pretty convinced the farther away I get from my family, the easier it becomes to worry about them rather than roll my eyes about them. (Sorry Mom… Who, me? Nah, never. I would never roll my eyes at my family.) On top of all of that, I’ll graduate from Mesalands Community College in May, and that’s coming up fast. I don’t have many of the answers to What happens next? right at the moment, and that’s definitely inducing some panic for me. The list can be endless if you let it be, which, lately, I have let it be.

So… What do we do about dropping the scowl off our faces? We all know the stereotype that college kids are usually pretty low on funds after they pay for tuition and make sure they eat each week. Although that doesn’t always help the matter, there’s a ton of things to do to unwind and have fun without having to spend a whole lot of money. All those posters for campus activities? Try some of them on occasion! Mesalands Community College is really awesome about doing movie nights at the local movie theater – old school, one screen place, it’s pretty neat – where college kids get in for free. Sure makes a ‘broke’ college kid feel a lot better about buying popcorn and a soda when there was no admission fee! The school also does bowling nights and gives prizes to the top male and female bowler, and those are always fun. Mesalands also does some on-campus activities: the faculty in Student Affairs are really good about keeping track of random festivities like National Coffee Day or National Popcorn Day (with corresponding snacks), and they’ll do treats for Valentine’s Day and activities leading up to Christmas break. Keep up with the college activities, and that’s a good way to get at least a short break from the ‘adulting’ that life requires!

Rebecca Darrup, Student Writer

Follow along in the community as well, and if there’s an event a couple towns away that you think sounds super fun, get a couple of your friends together, plan ahead and save up a little bit, and go!

But what about when nobody has anything planned for you? Then what? Good question. Part of the answer to that depends on you, what you enjoy, and what the people in your circle are like. Hanging out with friends doesn’t always mean being wild, despite what’s commonly said about crazy college kids. (On that note, if that scene isn’t for you, don’t go – there’s no shame in that and if you have the courage to stay home, you’ll probably spark it in someone else, too, and that’s how you find "your people" when you’re in college. I promise.) Right now, my college rodeo team is big enough that we don’t all hang out together all the time, and that’s okay. We hang out with different people pretty regularly, and there’s plenty of us who hang out with kids who aren’t on the team, which is a good thing. Something we’ve done, though, since last fall, is get some of us together for supper, and usually once the initial invitation is out there, everybody offers to bring something to pitch in, and it’s a good time to just relax, talk, and slow down for awhile. Even one-on-one, or a small group rather than the whole women’s rodeo team, can be a good way to unwind.

Rebecca Darrup, Student Writer

Fairly simple, right? Here’s the catch: you’ve got to choose to allow yourself to have fun with any of those things. You can be at any of those places, or doing any of those things, but if you’re still mentally wound tight, well, it’s not going to do you much good.

For example, last week, one of the girls on the team asked me if I wanted to hang out after practice, watch a movie or something. My first response was that I had way too much to do, and I told her no. Another day, I was in the gym with a different teammate, and we usually have a good time working out and pushing each other. That morning, though, I just continued to get more frustrated, and not really for any legitimate reason. On the phone with my mom afterward, she told me that I’d better get my priorities straight, and that finally shut me up and made me put my head on straight. Instead of stressing and getting irritated, I need to do the best I can with what I have and where I’m at, and have a little fun every now and again. Work hard, play hard, right?

A friend of mine once told me, “Be where your feet are.” If you’re hanging out with friends, quit worrying about your schoolwork as long as you have a plan to get it done. If you’re on a road trip, be in the middle of the experience and let the stress where the trip began. It’ll be lighter when you pick it back up to deal with it. While it might be tough living in the real world sometimes, ain’t it fun?

Rebecca Darrup, Student Writer