By TRISHA PHELPS

Mt. Pleasant News

When I was in high school, I thought I knew everything there was to know.

Then I went to college. I realized that high schoolers don’t know much about the world around them. As a college student, I was full of knowledge.

Then I graduated again and realized how little I knew about the world around me.

Here are a few things I have learned since graduating from college:

1. There really is no substitute for my mom’s oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. I have tried to make them myself, and while mine are still good, no cookie will ever taste as good as it does coming from my mother’s oven.

2. A good night’s rest is incredibly important. I used to think I was a crabby person in college. Now I realize I just never really got enough sleep.

3. Always wear your seatbelt. I had always worn my seat belt anyway, but a recent car/deer accident helped me realize just how important wearing one is. (No, it wasn’t my car, and no, I wasn’t driving. I was in the passenger seat.)

4. The freshman 15 is not college specific. I had incorrectly assumed the first year of college is the most important year to make sure you don’t gain weight. Now I realize the importance of a healthy diet and regular exercise never goes away.

5. Dishes and laundry really will wait for you. Not only will they wait for you, but they will multiply. It is important to stay on top of those tasks. Some day I will own a house with a dishwasher and my own laundry machines.

6. I will never have a “summer vacation” ever again. I will also never again have track season, marching band, jazz band or cross country. I used to volunteer at a church camp each summer. This is the second summer I haven’t been there. I miss all of these things very much.

7. It is perfectly fine to not be surrounded by people all the time. In high school, I was involved in almost every activity offered for girls at Winfield-Mt. Union. In college, my participation in extra curricular activities was about the same. Now I am learning to enjoy life being involved in a few less activities, with more of an impact on the community around me such as Lions Cub.

8. A sense of independence is a wonderful thing. I used to be scared about being on my own. When I was little, I used to tell my parents that I was going to live in the house right next to theirs so I would never have to leave. I can honestly say that I enjoy not living in such close proximity to with my parents.

9. Parents should not be taken for granted. The older I get, the more I realize what my parents have taught me. I am growing to regret quite a few things I may have said to them when I was a teenager. I don’t remember being all that nice to my parents as an adolescent, and I really should have appreciated them more.

10. I will never stop learning. I used to think I had everything figured out, but I am beginning to realize I don’t know nearly as much as I gave myself credit for.