Things 252-263: College

It's been eight years since I graduated college. I have to admit that I didn't really love college. Sure, there were some high points (meeting my future husband, a few really great friends, London), but the low points sort of overshadowed everything else (losing yer toes will do that).

But more than the whole illness thing, I never really found my clique in college. There were the sorority/fraternity types (loathed them, although I did marry one), the Midwestern hicks (bigots might be a better description), and the hipsters (pretty much the entire j-school). Although most of my friends probably fell into the latter group, I never really fit in there. The judging, the cooler-than-thou attitude, the obsession with Cat Power. No thanks.

Anyway, given this sort of "meh" feeling about college in general, it's a bit of a head-scratcher that I've saved so much stuff from my college years—stuff I really don't need and will never use again, such as:

From 365 things

These class notes and graded blue books (do college students even use these anymore?). I have no idea why I saved these. I suppose I thought I could look back at the notes in my career. But let's face it: The journalism industry has changed quite a bit in the past eight years, and I seriously doubt any of the brilliant insights within will ever help me out. As for the blue books, I assume I held on to these because I aced some really hard final, which meant something to me when I was 23. Now? Eh.

From 365 things

From 365 things

And these relics from one of my internships. Yes, I learned a lot from my days at Pioneer Press, and the experience likely helped me land my first job. But a denim hat and unflattering photo of me in front of a ginormous, ancient computer probably aren't going to help out my career anytime soon.

I'm sure I have tons of other useless keepsakes from college, some I can easily pitch, other burrowed deep in my brain that I'll never be able to shake. And maybe that's not all bad.