The saying goes “If you’re early, you’re on time. If you’re on time, you’re late. If you’re late, you’re out.” For many, this is a standard to live by every day. For me, a perpetually late person, I have a different motto: At least I showed up.

I came into this world already late (three days to be exact) and not much has changed since. It was not uncommon to see me running down the school hallways to get to 1^st period and sliding in to my seat, completely out of breath, as the bell rang. I still struggle with this in college. I practically ran off my freshman weight through my daily sprints across the Quad. I even had a random girl in a lecture make a comment about being surprised when I showed up 10 minutes early for an exam.

If I am on time, it is a great day. If I am only 5 minutes late, it is still a great day.

For those like me, they know the struggle of wanting to be prompt but lack a good perception of time. No matter how hard we try, there is never enough time. So, here is to my fellow late-comers. May one day you be early.

1. You dread when you have to be somewhere early in the morning fully ready

2. Clothes are always seeming to magically vanish 5 minutes before you’re supposed to leave

3. Every driver on the road is out to get you

4. You probably drive like a lunatic race car driver

5. You usually receive a round of applause on the rare occasion you are early

6. Your life motto is “better late than never”

7. Your other life motto is “It took longer to ________ than I thought”

8. You set a minimum of 10 alarms for the morning

9. Your friends know to add an extra 5-10 minutes on the time you say you will pick them up

10. No matter how much earlier you wake up/ start getting ready, you are always running out of the door

11. You honestly try your best to be on time