I turn 30 in two months, and am pointing that out wherever I go, to anyone who will listen [or not listen]. It really doesn’t matter, but I’m doing it! But there were a lot of things I wish I was told before hitting this point, like, “Tillie, college will not be the best years of your life and why did you not bring bed sheets for your dorm?” Or, “Tillie, did you really think college was going to prepare you for the real world?” Or, “No, Tillie. Your vagina is not slowly killing you. That’s called a UTI. How are you almost 21 and not experienced that yet?” [And these were the milder statements thrown my way.]
Basically, a lot. There was nothing out there to help me prepare for those after high school or college years. Based off of what was seen on television, read in books, and even heard from former graduates of multiple institutions, I assumed (as did many of us), that we were ready. But that moment reality takes over; you come to realize that high school and college didn’t prepare us for a damn thing! So cry it out and pick up one, or both of these books. At least you’ll be able to cry and laugh at the same time.
GOODNIGHT DORM ROOM by Sam Kaplan and Keith Riegert / Illustrated by Emily Fromm
This short read is a must for every recent high school grad that is going off to college. Though it’s not packed with everything a first-year should know, it’s definitely a start. From studying abroad to breakups and new love to the freshman fifteen to intramural sport teams… there’s so much about these years that no well thought out research paper could even breakdown.
I went to an all women’s college that was a four-hour flight or 24-hour car drive from home, and my biggest struggle was change. Change from whom I was back home, to how everything back home was changing without me, and on many occasions those two clashed. Which is fine. I mean, if you were shelling out upwards of $40,000 a year to stay the same person you were at 18, then you probably should have stayed home. Goodnight Dorm Room explains the basics of college in a cute, rhythmic pattern filled with what-ifs and must-knows. [Where the hell was this when I went to college?!]
Oh, the Places You’ll Eff Up: A Parody for Your Twenties by Josh Miller and Patrick Casey / Illustrated by Gemma Correll
Everything in this book is true unless you’re a trust fund babe, or some whiz kid that discovered a million dollar idea a month before college graduation [I hate you immensely by the way], than only part of it relates to you. Everyone should have this book; even if you are passed your 20s. It’s a humorous account to look back on and laugh uncontrollably as you sip $100 glasses of Riesling poured by the only gorilla master sommelier in the world, because “you got it like that” – now. Or as you change that pee soaked nappy cackling about it definitely wasn’t a pregnancy scare in your case.
It’s light-hearted, honest with the underrated realties of being 20-something today.