<p>It's almost the end of July and I feel so extremely complacent with my current situation. I have basically stopped thinking about college since I got in and decided to choose.</p>
<p>People keep asking me if I'm excited for college and I feel like such a buzz killer telling them no.</p>
<p>Basically, I feel like right now, life is amazing: I'm hanging out with incredibly tight group of friends all the time, I workout and run whenever I want, I make tons of money, and the weather is great...</p>
<p>I'm carefree, relaxed, and happy.... why do I not feel as excited as everyone else about college? I remember how I used to be so excited to take all these interesting classes and participate in D1 sports during the crazy application months of senior year. Now I don't want to do any D1 sports (something I'll probably regret once school starts) and I'm not so excited about all the requirements.</p>
<p>Seems to me like college is going to take away everything positive I have going for me right now and throw me in a whirpool of activity; living life at 100mph gets tiring.</p>
<p>I just thought someone out there could say something or give some insight into my current state.</p>
<p>Precisely how much are you making? If you make enough, you don't need college! </p>
<p>But really, you should make the best of your college experience.
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<p>I probably shouldn't have mentioned that... whoops... but too late to edit it out. I guess it has to do with my whole cloud-like feeling right now.</p>
<p>There's no way I'm not going to Penn next year... just really NOT EXCITED about it. :(</p>
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You don't have to be excited about it...but are you reluctant to go?
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<p>My currend mindset is that I'd love to be me right now in this moment for a long time.... so I guess you could say I'm not looking forward to ending the summer.</p>
<p>Try to enjoy this special time in your life--when you have all your friends from HS, a job you enjoy that earns you decent money, your family & a good roof over your head & gearing up for the next adventure, college in the fall. There's nothing wrong with not being in a great hurry to move on to the next step of heading off to college in the fall--comfortable now beats scary unknown future--pretty sensible reaction if you ask me.
My son is also enjoying his summer & obviously has bittersweet thoughts about having it end as we all head off to take him to college in about a week. He finally bought his laptop today & still hasn't taken it out of the box!</p>
<p>I think you gave a couple of examples that we may have focused on money etc ... and we may miss the point of ... i am not excited about college</p>
<p>i am a middle aged science professional teenage boys fyi</p>
<p>here goes
I think you mind set is very healthy, you have made plans been accepted into a great school have that planned ... right now you are enjoying a wonderful time--so enjoy it! I think we look ahead too much as a society and i think you are right to enjoy where you are at! Tell people " Oh I am sure it Will be a great experience, but I am really taking advantage of this summer to get ready and enjoy myself." </p>
<p>Now a bit of middle age widsome... I love your idea of being 'me' right now for a long time... The reality is that people will change the summer will end and even --as hard as you (and peter pan) you cant remain at a spot forever. Enjoy every minute, but a little sad when you leave , and then look for more experiences in the fall.</p>
<p>I totally know where you're coming from on this, people are constantly asking me if I'm excited, and the only response I can give them is a shrug and a little murmur and that's about it. Granted, I am extremely happy about moving on and being given the opportunity to escape my small world, but hmmm, something seems to be lacking, though I think things will get better once it comes down to crunch time, so I guess here's to good times in college and just waiting for things to get better.</p>
<p>This is one of those times when I wish the forum censor would let me type, wi****l... (full of wist) :) </p>
<p>I can't quite figure if you are in a natural transition, or if you should take a gap year and go on to college when you are more enthusiastic about it. Will the summer end anyway? Will your friends all leave for college? Pretty sure the weather will change. Is your job just a summer job? Would you be happier going off on an adventure that did not involve going to Penn this fall, or will going to Penn seem like the natural thing to do..... not now, but in 3 or 4 weeks (crap! It's practically August already!!!!!)</p>
<p>What sport are you contemplating at Penn. I know an athlete there... and feel like I know another one (aka wildchild, who we know virtually)</p>
<p>Do you feel like you're a character in one of those "coming of age" movies? Caught in that perfect carefree time between youth and adulthood, wishing it could last forever but knowing it won't. The only thing missing is an affair with an older woman. :)</p>
<p>Reeze,
I think that my S is feeling the same way. He's excited about going to college, because he knows that it's coming weather or not he wants. All of his friends are going away and in a couple of weeks they aren’t' going to be here either.</p>
<p>But, he's having the best summer yet. Everyone knows that their time is short and they want to get together all the time. He's working a couple of jobs and working out and summer is great. But come 1 September, everyone will be gone and another chapter will start.</p>
<p>Maybe it's because he's a guy, but he has no interest in getting things for college. He doesn't care what color his comforter is or what he needs to buy. But then he's a guy who has little needs. He'll be fine with the little that he wants to bring and I'm sure won't ask for more stuff.</p>
<p>What I'm trying to say is that what you are experiencing is normal. It's not easy to leave behind the familiar and be excited about the unknown. But I think that at Thanksgiving you'll wonder why you weren't excited about going to school, because it will be familiar and you will have tons of friends and activities. That is if you make the effort to have activities and friends, they don't just happen, you have to make the good times.</p>
<p>what you are feeling is TOTALLY normal- you are about to embark on a major life change, and that can be scary for everyone. i'd be willing to bet that most of your friends are feeling the same way, whether or not they care to admit it.
keep in mind that you will stay in touch with your friends at home thru email, im, and whatnot, as well as see them on holidays/vacations when you are home.
within a week or two at penn, you will (hopefully) start to consider it as a new home.</p>
<p>change is scary, but unfortunately its unavoidable.</p>
<p>After the intensity of senior year and the treadmill leading up to it, how nice to just "live" and not have to track deadlines and overlapping responsibilities. That's what summer is for! You're recharging your batteries but you're not up to full power yet, and that's okay.</p>
<p>Going to school may seem like a natural and expected next step, maybe nothing to get technically "excited" over. It's what you've been working towards. Give some thought to how you're going to engage, and once you get there you'll feel inspired by the energy of the other students. For now, enjoy the freedom. You probably haven't experienced a state of suspended summer animation like this, ever. Soon enough, you'll be exchanging the freedom for intensity. Both can have an important place in your life, and both can be wonderful.</p>
<p>I bet that most of the "people" asking you if you're "excited" about "going to college" are adults who are just trying to chat with you. They're not thinking too hard about their choice of words, so you don't need to think too hard about the way they are framing the question., or search yourself for reasons why you can't express authentic excitement. They just want to connect with you for a minute and bask in your 18-year-old-ness. You can say anything, and you can offer up a sincere response or even turn the question back on them. For instance,</p>
<p>Your friend's mom: Oh, hi Reeze! I haven't seen you in months! How are you!
Reeze: Fine.
YFM: You must be leaving for school soon! I can't believe that you're going to be a college freshman, the time just went so fast since (mentions third grade activity like AYSO soccer). You're going to Penn, right? Are you excited?
Reeze: No.
YFM: Uh, um, will you be playing soccer at school?
Reeze 1: No.
Reeze 2: No, first time out of a soccer uniform since <strong><em>. II love the game though and I'm hoping to play for fun at the club level.
Reeze 3: Actually I'm not! I don't know what it will be like without being on the field every day, after so many years of having soccer be such a big part of my life. It's been a huge commitment and great in so many ways, but I decided not to play in college and now I'll have time to pursue some other stuff such as _</em></strong>_.
Reeze 4: Response 3 plus a bounceback question such as, did you play a sport in college? or what did you most like to do during freshman year?
YFM: Are you having a good summer?
Reeze: I AM HAVING THE GREATEST SUMMER OF MY LIFE!! I WISH IT WOULD LAST FOREVER!
YFM: You are the luckiest guy ever! An awesome summer and your whole future ahead of you! Enjoy the sun while it shines!</p>
<p>I just realized how nicely this thread fits in with the threads about how awful some kids are the summer before they leave. It all makes sense now. If you were constantly fighting with your parents and miserable at home you would be much more excited about leaving and going off to college! If you are hanging out with your friends and having a great summer and everything is fine at home... well, who wants to leave that? :)</p>
<p>I think my son had the same feeling of wanting to hold on to that last summer before college started. He had that same tight connection with his friends, and all he wanted to do was enjoy hanging out with them in the warm weather. This, I think, is so normal, as a prelude to the very big milestone of going off to college.</p>
<p>My son appears to be having the summer of his life -- tight friends, great girlfriend, mom's cooking, $ in his pocket. I say "appears" because we don't see him that often to get a full report.</p>
<p>In a perfect world, July would go on forever, and we would just skip August, when the number of locals will dwindle, and he'll be among the last to leave for school. Maybe we should lobby for a national move-in date. JK.</p>
<p>2010'ers, enjoy your grad summer! You new life will begin soon enough.</p>
<p>Reeze: What everyone else says -- you're right, your life IS great right now, you should be enjoying it guilt-free.</p>
<p>Why do you think college is going to take anything away from you, though? Ask around -- I don't think you'll find many people who don't think that their college friends are the tightest they ever had. Honestly, I loved, and still love, my high school friends, but I didn't miss them much during college. Run and work out whenever you want? Check! And in some pretty nice facilities, too. Classes? Schoolwork? A necessary evil, maybe, but I guarantee, GUARANTEE!, that you will be much more impressed with yourself next summer than you are now.</p>
<p>The faculty at Penn are paid a lot of money to entertain and to engage you, and you will probably be entertained and engaged. I don't know where you live now, but it is possible to have a great time as a young man in Philly, no matter what your tastes are, and it sure beats the 'burbs. You will be in the only environment you will ever experience that is completely designed to cater to you and people exactly like you. It is much better than high school. It is even better than summer vacation, most of the time. (OK, not all of the time, but you won't hit a bad stretch for a while.)</p>
<p>The weather is going to get worse, it's true. But that's not college's fault. It was going to happen anyway. Enjoy it while it lasts.</p>
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People keep asking me if I'm excited for college and I feel like such a buzz killer telling them no.</p>
<p>Basically, I feel like right now, life is amazing:
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IMO, this is a gift - the ability to live in the moment and experience it for all it is worth. I don't mean failing to plan ahead when appropriate. You don't need to <em>feel</em> excited about college right at the moment. Feeling like your life, as you are living it right now, is A++ is quite fine. Enjoy. If you are fortunate, you will feel the same way in 6 months about your experiences at college as you feel right now.</p>
<p>wowowowowow.... thanks for the incredible replies... I feel sort of like a burden has been lifted from my chest with this thread. Very re-assuring to know there a lot of others out there with similar experiences/feelings.</p>