"You're already engaged…?”
“You look way too young to be engaged.."
“It’s actually kinda soon to be engaged, don’t you think?”

Those are just some of the comments I receive each time I mention the word "fiance" to people. I also have been asked if our parents approve, and what our friends think about us being engaged. These questions really confuse me the most because to me the answers are obvious. Our parents are absolutely supportive of it and my friends are excited for me. So what’s the point in asking? The problem is that behind these innocent questions that are asked about my engagement is something way deeper and way harsher. And the reason behind these questions is a sense of judgement towards my decisions in our lives because of the fact that I am a high school student.

Yes, we are engaged after dating for almost five months at the time. But, what people don’t realize, is that we didn’t just start talking before we started dating. I started to like him after two weeks of moving to town. And that was just about two and a half years ago. We always flirted with each other, but we never realized it until we thought back. We never thought that the other was just right, but too good for us. Not to mention, both of us were really shy two years ago, believe it or not.

Yes, I am currently looking at colleges and a plan for my college classes. Yes, I am a pretty smart person who could do many great things. But what matters, is that this is what I want in life. Among all of these things, I am also an adult who is in love and who wants to have a family in the future, along with a career and a degree, and what is so wrong with that? If I'm happy, my fiancee is happy, our parents approve, and we still plan to continue to focus on school, then why is my age such a big deal?

I'm a really big believer in people making the choices and decisions for their life that will help make the life that they want to live. That being so, I want people to try to understand that this is the best decision for the life that I want to live. People are allowed to not completely agree. And people are allowed to know that they wouldn’t make the same decision for yourself, but, nobody can change this about me. I am a 18-year-old senior, and I am also a young adult engaged to the love of my life. Young love might seem risky and dumb and difficult to understand, but it's just as real as the love of two older adults who just got engaged. So next time you think about asking someone a question about their own personal decision, ask yourself if it’s really your place to be judgmental or if it’s really even your place to be asking.