Life Unexpected

I just watched the premiere of Life Unexpected, a new show on the CW. I really just wanted to check it out because I love Shiri Appleby. I fell in love with her when she was in Roswell (if you haven't seen that show, seriously, you should watch it - so good!!! Yes, it's about aliens but deep down it's really about fitting in, insecurities, relationships and all that good stuff).

Anyway, I think I'm hooked on a new show. Life Unexpected is about a 15-year-old girl who's been growing up in foster care but now finds her real parents (who had her when they were teenagers and therefore gave her up for adoption). The mom (played by Shiri) is pretty messed up herself - she doesn't trust anyone, pushes people away - but at the end of the show, he decides that she's going to take care of her daughter and that she's going to "grow up" with her. That made me think...

When do we truly grow up? Are we ever truly "done" growing up?

When our students come to college, we tell them that they are now adults and that we will treat them as adults. But we don't really... They still have that safety net of the RAs and the professional staff in the hall. When we document someone for drinking and send them through the judicial system, we give them more chances, we try to be educational; we protect them from the consequences that would exist out in the "real" world. I'm not saying I'm against that - but it shows that you're clearly not done "growing up" when you're in college. I mean, we all know how much you change while you're in college - how you learn and ... well, GROW.

Are you done growing up after college? Not really. You may rent that first apartment or buy a car - but usually your parents are still around helping you with these things - or even if you have to do them on your own, you probably have no idea what you're doing and are just learning as you go.

When you're little, you think by the time you're a college graduate, you have it all figured out.

Ha. I definitely I didn't. I still don't really think I got it all figured out. I mean, look at me, I'm still struggling with figuring out what I want to do next, where I want to live, whether or not I want to have a family (hmmm, can you really plan that? I mean you kinda have to find a partner for that, don't you? And you can't really force that - or maybe you can [by joining online sites, going out, "putting yourself out there"] but do I really want that? Doesn't that feel forced? And fake?)

There's just so many questions that I don't have an answer to. When I was in college, I thought I had it all figured out. I "knew" what I wanted. Maybe growing up means realizing that you don't know what you want. That life will throw unexpected things at you and hardly ever turns out the way you thought.

As Socrates said, "I know that I know nothing."