Like Your Own Things.

It is perfectly okay to like, share, converse about your interests: sports, TV shows that you like, favourite ballerina/Kardashian, whatever takes you fancy.

Condescendingly mocking someone because their interests are not similar to yours is not okay.

Why?

Well I think it’s pretty obvious why, but let’s proceed.

Because something that somebody may be so damn passionate about, for instance, interior design, can change in an instant when an arrogant individual mocks or makes a mean comment about this specific topic. This interior design whiz can go from having an entire bedroom wall decorated in paint samples from Bunnings to threading each paint card one by one into the shredder, resulting in a blank wall that serves no other purpose but to hold the roof up. All because a classmate, parent, or friend had the nerve to say something utterly shitty like “interior design is for failed artists, is that why you like it so much?” because they thought it was funny.

First of all, stand up for yourself. You don’t want to be friends with people who are going to mock your passion, and if it’s a parent, stand up for yourself even more than you would someone of a similar age to you. Parents need to know that comments like that are not okay.

Secondly, have a cry. Yes, that comment was hurtful, what a bitch. Have a cry, scream into a pillow, get the mean comments out of your system. I understand that this may be harder fo some, and I understand that negative thoughts may circulate longer than you want them to. And that’s okay.

Thirdly, make that comment your bitch. Someone doesn’t like interior design? FUCK ‘EM. It’s not their life, it doesn’t affect them, they’re just putting crap on you because you have a passion and they don’t. Or your passion is different from the norm.

If anything, you’d want you interests, clothes, attitude, hairstyle, whatever, different from the norm. I mean, do you really want to be sitting in a retirement home at 92 thinking “why did I spend my university years making Kardashian references and wearing crop tops? I didn’t even like those things.” No. Didn’t think so.

Stand out from the crowd! Like your own things! And if that’s the same as someone else’s interest, such as the Kardashians, then great!

Be your own person. People may not like it. But are you going to be sitting with those people in said retirement home when you’re both 92?

No. Didn’t think so.

 

Money Money Money

A quote that I found on tumblr a few years ago drastically changed my perspective on money:

$5,000 is a lot of money to own, and not very much to owe.

When I moved out, I had exactly $5,000 in my savings, and all I could think was “shit”.
And it’s right. Oh, boy is that quote right.

Unless you have a full time job, your savings account is going to scream and squirm whilst you’re at university. And as I’ve come to discover, and as it took a long time for me to accept: that’s fine, that’s what it’s there for. What I’ve come to discover is that people my age (19) lie about their money. A lot.

For instance, a fellow student of yours might say “I worked my butt off this week and got paid $700, hollaaaaaaa” and perform a little happy dance around the university common room; let’s face it, we’ve all done it.

What they won’t tell you however, is that that $700 has just changed their bank account balance from $1.03 to $701.03. People always want to make themselves sound successful to others, and constantly want to one-up each other. I’ve seen it, I’ve heard it, I’ve been on the receiving end of it. And it sucks.

Any form of savings is a prime jealousy factor amongst young adults, particularly university students. If you work, pay your bills, and hardly ever go out (like me), then you’ll have a little bit of savings floating about. A spare $200, maybe even $400, maybe even $1,000, however long you’ve been saving for. All of these amounts are exceptional, yet not in the eyes of university students. Here’s why:

We’re all in the same boat of studying, working casually or part time, paying bills, and trying to maintain our social status. So if someone is excelling on the financial side of things, bam: social piranha. People your age, who are in the same situation as you, get jealous like a 1st grader towards a fellow classmate who spelt more words correctly than they did. You may feel super proud of yourself for saving, AND YOU SHOULD, or for being ahead on your bills, whatever financial achievement you have; yet others boil with jealousy.

Why?

Because you’re doing the “adult thing” better than them, and as long as you remain humble about it, embrace it.

Trust Me.

When it comes to being independent, you’re going to hear it all. Trust me.

“You’re not nearly old enough to do that.”

“Do you even know how much that’s going to cost?”

“You can’t rely on savings forever.”

“You won’t be able to do it, trust us, we’ve been there, we’ve had more life experience than you.”

Yep. And it never stops. So be prepared.

Now, what these adultier adults than me don’t understand however, is that I’m already enduring these costs. I’m already in the big, scary world, yet according to them, I am not recognised as a “proper adult”. I beg to differ.

Nine months ago, I moved interstate to pursue my dream carer via university education. During these months, I’ve endured a massive withdrawal from my savings every day/week whilst styudying my booty off. Now, these costs aren’t your typical I-moved-out-of-home-and-look-at-me-I’m-an-adult-and-paying-rent costs. Nah-uh. This is nine months of:

Groceries, rent, car insurance, health insurance, petrol, weekly transport card to get to & from uni, phone bill, car registration, car repairs, and some everyday cash.

Still wanna move out?

Well you can, totally cool, no worries. You just have to be prepared. Now, whether that includes a pep talk in musical form from Scar in The Lion King (“Be Prepared” song, for any Disney illiterate people), you need to mentally prepare yourself for the financial strain that comes with moving out of home. You may hear great success stories from your friends/workmates/whoever, telling you things like “I moved out of home and I’ve got plenty of money”. I have two words regarding these people:

THEY’RE LYING.

My life (well, current) motto is: if mummy & daddy paid for it, it doesn’t count. Keep this in mind, because when these “successful” youths move out of home, their parents are paying for their groceries, rent, absolutely everything under the sun, and it’s gonna make you feel less about yourself because you stick to your guns and pay for everything yourself. As a result, you cannot participate in every social event that university or friends invite you to, because you simply can’t afford to. From experience, being unable to afford participating in social events, which in our rich Australian culture consists primarily of drinking, ultimately makes you look like a chump, because you live out of home and don’t arrive, even though the parent-reliant students do, because they can “afford” to.

Stick to your guns. Trust me, you would MUCH rather want to be an actual independent uni student, rather than a mum and dad money-sucking machine. And you wanna know why? Because these people appear arrogant and rude.

Trust me.