Since I was 14, I haven't had a vacation. I never fully understood what I was supposed to be doing to have a vacation. I was constantly working whether it be at my job 30 hours a week or with studying; I was always trying to get ahead.

I had friends throughout high school and in college who would go on big family vacations whether it was abroad or to Branson or to Florida. And the older I get, I'm starting to have friends who go on vacations with their friends, and it hurts just a little not being able to join in.

Even when I was in middle school my family never went on vacation. At most, we would go down to my aunt's lake house and spend maybe a week there. We never had enough money to go on cool vacations to Disneyland or to Orlando. And once I got to high school, the lake trips stopped.

Which was fine with me. I started doing more hours at work because school was no longer in session; more hours meant more money, and more money meant being able to do things with my friends during the school year.

It never bothered me until I started college. I started working during my winter and spring breaks instead of going on trips to Colorado or to Mexico. Which sucked because most of my friends from high school went on those trips so I was alone in my home city.

I still don't understand how college kids can afford to go on these trips. I only justified my first and only trip abroad because it was a part of the study away program at school; I still had to do work for that trip, it wasn't just a vacation. I didn't feel that bad spending money for the trip because it was for school.

And it's not just me. I know so many other students out there with the same struggles. Hell, probably more than half of the students have to deal with this.

Even though I've taken a summer class every summer since I've been in college I'm not ahead, I am exactly where I should be. Because a four-year degree doesn't take four years anymore.

For a typical person in college who isn't receiving financial help from their parents, you have to work and be in school at the same time, and it doesn't really allow you to take extended time off.

And I'm not shaming people who do receive help from their parent's money wise, and I'm not saying they don't deserve to go on trips, but it is a privilege.

I don't have time to go on little adventures; I'm trying to get my ducks in a row, and summer offers me more time to gain more money and credits than the regular school year. I wish I could go on vacations.

I wish I could plan trips with my friends, and I tried; I was supposed to go on a week-long road trip this summer, and I had to drop out because I couldn't afford it. “Vacation time" is unaffordable.

Even when I came back from my study away trip, I was flat out broke for a month. I had less than $10 in my savings account, and I had been saving for that trip for months.

There are so many people out there who work so hard for years and years and years, and I doubt a lot of them have been able to go on a “proper vacation." Especially those making minimum-wage, full-time. And dare I say it, those are the people who deserve a vacation the most.

Maybe I'm just salty that I didn't come for a well off family who could take me to Disney World and get Mickey Mouse ears, maybe I'm just jealous of every girl that gets to go to Cancun for spring break and post cute bikini pictures to Instagram, but maybe I am just tired of working this much and not being able to get recognized for it.