You know those mildly pretentious kids in your classes who confuse you by saying they're a senior in college even though they're just 19, and then they go into explaining that they came into college two or three semesters ahead because of AP, IB, or some other credit-granting method? Those kids? I am one of those kids. Had I started out in the major I'm currently in, I would be graduating this December, even though I only graduated high school less than three years ago.

Maybe you're one of those kids, too. But maybe you're also like me in that now you aren't graduating ahead, or even on time. Maybe life got in the way. Maybe you failed a class. Perhaps you had to drop a course or two along the way for the sake of your mental health. Or maybe you've changed your major one, two, or even five times since starting college.

Perhaps you're far enough along that many of the friends you met your freshman year are beginning to order graduation regalia and are applying for jobs, but you're stuck with another semester or two. There are times where you may feel inadequate. You may feel that all the work you did in high school or all the CLEP tests you took were for nothing.

If your pursuit of Christ is intertwined with your journey through college, you may also feel a different sort of inadequacy: you may feel that you are not serving Him as best you can because you don't have the degree in your hand that is supposed to help you help those who are hurting. You might think you're failing Him.

Here is the truth, though: there is no such thing as being behind because the good Lord has you right where He wants you. It's taken me a long time to realize it, because every time classes got tough and I questioned my abilities or my major, I told myself to push forward because once I have a degree in my hand, I can use both my work and the opportunities afforded to me by the salary that comes from a full-time, college-graduate level job to glorify the Kingdom of God. I felt like the four-plus years I spend in college were a stumbling block.

Recently, God put some pretty outlook-altering words on my heart: He isn't concerned with solely getting us from an arbitrary point A to a socially constructed point B. He's concerned with what we do for Him every day, from the moment we wake up to the moment we lay our heads down at night, from birth to death, and it doesn't matter if you're a janitor, a CEO, a college kid, or a circus clown. Maybe you're behind because of a bad grade, a poor schedule, or because you have to work to pay your way through college, but that is part of the plan God crafted for your life before you were even born.

There is a great deal of work to be done to further the Kingdom within the walls of a college campus. College is every bit of a mission field as anywhere else in the world. College campuses are full of those who do not know the name of Jesus. They are full of people who are anxious, hurting, doubting and in need of prayer and guidance. Instead of feeling inadequate, feel empowered that you get to spend time in college immersing yourself in doing work for Him, simply by the way you live your life and the testimony you create and relay to others.

So, when you get closer to graduation and when people ask what year you're on, and you tell them you're on your victory lap, you can truly call it a victory lap without an ounce of sarcasm, because you can choose to give your time in college to Christ.