Art School Drop Out

This morning, I had breakfast with my dear friend, Lily. We've known each other since 2nd grade and I'm very blessed to still have her in my life. She is currently in medical school and I'm an accidental college drop out. Today, we ate and talked about our lives. We talked about where we are and where we want to go. Our lives are so incredibly different but somehow we can always come together and find parallels in the lessons life is teaching us. I'm incredibly proud of her and I hope she's proud of me.

I know what you're thinking, "Wait, wait, wait! Sydney what do you mean 'accidental college drop out'? What the hell does that mean?"

Oh yeah. I didn't actually graduate college! Ha! I lied to everyone! Sorry.

Going into my Comedy Studies semester, I was already a super senior. I was careless with my schedule the year before and only took the minimum classes required for financial aid. My silly ass didn't do the math. By the end of my Comedy Studies semester (what I hoped would be my last semester), I was 7 credit hours short. 7 CREDIT HOURS! That's part-time! That's nowhere near done.

Now, I know what you're thinking again. "Okay. If you did Comedy Studies in Fall then just finish up the rest in the Spring!"

Funny story...

My financial aid ran out during Comedy Studies! I still owe money for that semester! So instead of paying that off and going back to school, I went to Europe. I saw the canals in Amsterdam, Notre Dame, Sagrada Familia and drank so much Cafe con Leche. It was a marvelous trip that I used to say I wouldn't trade for anything. Now I realize I might have traded it for a college degree. I put myself even more in debt to go on a trip to prove I could be adventurous. It was my favorite mistake.

Flash forward to me now. I've been trying to look for work and it's been incredibly difficult. I see the words "Bachelor's Degree" under requirements and I mentally kick myself. I'm lucky to have the tour but it doesn't have benefits and interferes with comedy. Feeling that I hit a dead end, I met with my advisor and we figured out a plan to get me graduated. Step two is getting funding to get me graduated. This will be a much more difficult step.

"Sydney. Why are you telling me this?"

When I was younger, I was very open book. I told people too much. For some reason, I have always felt like if someone asks, they deserve to know. As I get older this is becoming less and less true. Oversharing is not good for me or my relationships. I'm learning some information is for close friends and others just for me.
This would have been one of those pieces of information just for me and my closest friends. But instead of being vague with people when they asked me how life was going, I lied. I said I graduated to make myself sound accomplished and I was embarrassed to be 23 without a college degree. So instead of saying, I'm still working on my degree, I lied. I straight up lied. I lied to people on my tour, I lied to my friends, I even lied to my mom. I was so ashamed.

But I'm done lying. I'm not perfect. I have always learned my life lessons the hard way. From losing my virginity in a bathtub to losing a friend's trust by not being supportive. I fly high and fall hard. Hitting the ground isn't pleasant but it's necessary. With each fall, I get to learn how to fly again and better than the last time.  This is what makes me love my life. I'm proud of being college educated and now my next adventure is getting the slip of paper that proves it.

And hey! Maybe now, I can take that Solo Performance class everybody talks about. Lord knows I got some shit to say.

Thanks for listening. Come back for more.