College, for most people if they move out of their home, is when you learn exactly what you will do without your parents nagging you. Will you do your laundry on a regular basis? Will you separate your whites and colors? Will you clean your room? Will you take your vitamins? Eat your vegetables? Do your homework?
But college has it's own sort of parental fallbacks. If you don't do your homework, your professor, TA, or a roommate or friend with a motherly instinct will probably get on your case before you completely fail. Laundry's a bit of a necessity if you don't want to smell when you go to class, and you should probably clean your room if you don't want your roommate to hate you or you want to actually have "someone" over. Vitamins and vegetables might be lost forever, but something about gaining that freshman 15 and being around way too many varsity athletes and athlete types that make you far too aware of how you should be taking care of your body. Yes, yes. The list goes on. But I think most of the things you might lose in leaving your parents--a confidant, a guidance counselor, a ruthless dictator--is all somehow made up for by someone in the grand sea of people you meet at college.
Alas, what happens when you're out in the "real world"? All of a sudden "responsibility" takes on a whole new meaning.
I'm not saying that the transition from college to working is hard, per se. I can't say I can think of particular struggles that inherently come from the change, at least in terms of survival and outwardly seeming competent.
I pay my rent, I wake up to get to work, I try not to get robbed. I think...I think those comprise my main focus right now.
But in my situation, who's going to tell me to do my laundry? To get my hair cut because I'm starting to look like a hobo? To do my work better? To eat well and exercise? I don't live with a roommate so my apartment is always in disarray or on the verge thereof. I got my hair cut recently just because, and got a few comments on how I finally look like a competent adult. (Half joking...) I eat what I want and I have no such influences in my life to drive me to live differently. Sometimes I feel like I need someone to check on my every move and tell me what to do. Is that so wrong?
Maybe there should be a service for adults who want to help adults...
I need a nanny. I've never had one. But I think I need one. :-)