At university, there is huge excitement about being independent. Whether you’re an international student or a local commuter, it’s an all new adventure for time-management, self-motivation and responsibility.
Many of us find that university can be quite demanding in terms of workload and social life. Keeping up with projects and friend drama while remembering to buy groceries sometimes feels like a circus act of juggling. Even at home students may find themselves locked away, bent over a dimly lit desk all night, trying to finish the last paragraph of that paper due all too soon.
It’s so exciting to make new relationships, but in the commotion of university it’s important to remember the ones back home.
Through high school, my parents were my greatest adversaries. They told me when to be home, their opinions on who I should date and punished me for misbehaving (like I was some sort of child). I thought they were out to ruin my social life. My relationship with them rapidly changed coming into university.
At the same time we’re aging into our 20s, we realize that we’ve come to be the age our parents were when they started making the vitally important decisions they used to lecture us about, and that the whole time they nagged us, they were just looking out for us.
There is limited time we have with the people who brought us into the world, and we should be spending a lot more time sharing stories with them, spending quality time together and communicating our goals and dreams to one another, listening wisely to the advice they may have.
Being in our 20s is the perfect time to use our parents as a resource of knowledge. They’ve seen a lot more than we have and have valuable information that can help us develop our careers, networking choices or simply make choices with more open eyes.
Parents are parents, but more importantly, they’re people. There comes a time when they don’t know anymore than we do on certain subjects. Maybe we can even educate them on some things. But it’s that vital communication that allows us to befriend our parents and have a deep respect for them as our lifelong caretakers.
Parents will never stop looking out for us. It’s our job to look after them. Take the time this week to give your parents or caregivers a call, letting them know how much you care for them, ask them about their day. It will mean more to them than you think.
While projects, nights out and social events never stop, it’s important to remember this. While we age, so do our parents. One day, we’ll look at them and realize they’re a lot older than we thought.
There is limited time we have with the people who brought us into the world, and we should be spending a lot more time sharing stories with them, spending quality time together and communicating our goals and dreams to one another, listening wisely to the advice they may have.
As we become busier with university life, it’s important to remember what really matters. Everything starts and ends with family. We should take the time to give those members the love they deserve.