For most students, including myself, coming to college is a huge step in our lives.

High school is long gone for us and college can get very overwhelming and scary. For others, it may seem like a breeze.

But who is to say what the normal response to change is? You either start to crumble from day one or you thrive, right? Wrong.I believe there is a degree of in-between that a majority of college-age people are stuck in.

This particular degree is what I like to think of as the portion of people who are not quite sure who they are, or who they want to be.

They are confined to this “high school” mindset, not fully aware of all their responsibilities. But most kids our age are good at faking-it-til-they-are-making-it.

A generation of pretenders, if you will. We will do anything to make it appear that we have our lives together, when in reality, we are still caught up in childish, dramatic behaviors.

An A+ example of this concept is the way we were raised on social media.

Everyone puts up a false front on media pages, creating the illusion that our lives are all rainbows and butterflies.

It is like a competition to see who’s life looks the most interesting.

We have grown up with the idea that it is OK to unconsciously mislead our peers through social media. So much so, that it has started to affect us in our everyday lives.

We are now under the impression that making assumptions about people is normal, so we hide who we really are in order to make “friends”, and we are pushing aside adult responsibilities because we are too caught up in the excitement of our adolescence.

Your parents are not here. No one is going to tell you what your morals are.

We all pretend (there’s that word again) like we are each in control of deciding on who we want to be and how people perceive us. Well, look around.

Look at all these “in-betweeners” who are influencing you to put up this facade, pressuring you to be someone you are not. From this point forward, I am going to be honest with myself, and I think everyone should do the same. I am overwhelmed and I am still getting the hang of all these new responsibilities. But why should I act like these obligations do not apply to me and give in to immature ways of life?

We need to realize that we really are not in total control.

We should recognize the fact that these outside pressures are actually making an impact. I am not saying we should not have fun and we should jump right into full-blown adulthood.

All I am saying is that we need to let go of all of these teenage-like conducts.

So, out with all of the rumors, mind games and hurt. Let us stop lying to each other. Let us start being our true selves. Let us respect each other.

High school drama is not relevant anymore.

Now is the time to start growing up. Now is not the time to pretend.

Emily Morgan can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].