If 21 years of Chicago winters should teach me anything, it’s that grass, in fact, is not always greener on the other side. Yet, no matter what side I find myself, I can’t help but daydream of sprawling green fields just around the corner.

I fell into this slightly idealistic mentality while interning the past few months, as my thoughts occasionally would linger upon my school year self. In my head, this me radiated constant energy and never would succumb to the call of sleep. The college me never sits, never gets tired, and runs from class to class with a swag in her step, ready to conquer the next 10 items on her to-do list. For the work-me spending her day in the car and the office, nothing sounded more appealing than running around, waking up at 10am, and socializing with friends between classes.

Was the grass really that green six months ago? I reflect some more and hints of reality seep in, starting with the fact that never have I walked with a ‘swag’ in my step. Additionally, six months ago, I was sleep deprived and stuck in a never ending flow of midterms and finals. My brain hurt, my eyes ached, and I hardly could remember the last time I watched TV. This me drooled for the freedom soon to be mine as an intern. As an intern, I would have time to go out to dinner, watch movies, and spend the weekends away from the library. I envied the free evenings and free weekends of a 9-5 worker and filled my head with millions of exciting plans for life without school work.

While neither side is completely green, the two lives together make my version of a perfect life—one filled with activity and motion, people and interaction, work and play. These are the qualities I will carry with me as I leave the internship and start school, and the ones I will seek to preserve as I enter the real world.