“You seem so much older than you are”. “You don’t act the same way your friends do”. “Are you really a freshman in college”?

I’ve heard all of the phrases before. Ever since I was in elementary school everyone has been convinced that I am older than I really am. Maybe it has to do with growing up as an only child, or maybe it’s just my personality, but I've never really fit in with the kids my age.

School has always been a top priority for me, and other kids found their spot in sports or even just hanging out with friends. I remember kids throwing tantrums when they didn’t get their way and I never did that, my parents always tell me that it just wasn’t who I was.

My parents’ friends have always told me that I seem mature for my age, which would probably make sense considering how well I hold conversation with people who are older than me.

I like to have conversations with people who know more about the world than I do, so it definitely makes sense that I come across as more mature. I'm always asking questions whether they’re about politics or current events or even life in general. I like listening to people tell me their life stories, and with people who are older than me, I can learn so much.

I do believe that I act older than I really am, and I feel like I’ve done this for my whole life. I’ve always felt like the kids my age prefer parties and other social events like that while I prefer a nice night in with friends and I prioritize studying for tests.

Even now when I meet upperclassmen on campus and they find out that I’m a freshman, they don’t often believe me. I’m not sure why I come across as so much older, but at least 15 people that I’ve met have thought that I was a junior. I don’t think its necessarily a bad thing being seen as more mature than my peers, but at the same time, it hasn’t always been exactly easy.

Everyone else has a different mindset and a different focus while I have had a clear goal in mind since the beginning of high school. I knew I would be an accounting major since my sophomore year of high school while some of my friends still have no idea what path they want to take.

Whenever I learn something knew, I try to use it in a conversation with someone who is older than me because I feel like it adds to my learning. I remember after researching information about the past presidential election, my parents and I went out to dinner with their friends and we all spoke of political current events and topics and I felt like I was truly contributing to the conversation which felt rewarding.

I felt older than 17 at the time and my parents and their friends treated me like I was an adult which was really spectacular.

Throughout high school I started to realize that my parents' friend was right, I am more mature than people my age. Now that I’m in college, its really become evident that I’m more grown up. Listening to conversations of people around me I hear people talking about things that should have been left in high school like petty drama.

In college, there seems to be two general groups of people, those who spend all of their time drinking and partying and those who spend their time studying for the test they have the next morning. Now don’t get me wrong some people do fall in between those two general groups, but here’s what I’ve noticed among freshmen.

There’s the kids who go out for “Wine Wednesday” and “Tequila Tuesday” despite their 8 a.m. class the next day or their huge test coming up which is both impressive and scary to a girl like me who studies as much as possible for the exams.

Once I realized that there was a large amount of people who felt that I was more mature than my peers, I started to see it myself. For a while I thought it was a bad thing, I was lonely. But once I got to college I met my best friend and I realized that she has been told her whole life that she’s more mature too. It’s nice to finally have someone who understands how important my values are to me and she values the same things.

It took me so long to realize that I should be okay with being mature, and now that I have I truly feel comfortable with myself and who I am.