As a senior in college with my 22nd birthday around the corner (literally - it's Tuesday) has caused me think about where I am in life. I'm about to open a new chapter, so it's only natural, right? Except life is crazy. It takes all kinds of unexpected turns that leave us blindsided. Then there's this little song, written by Taylor Swift. I bet you're already singing it. In her song "22", Taylor Swift and her friends are hanging out and having the time of their lives by the end. For fun, let's compare her song to real life.

"It feels like a perfect night to dress up like hipsters"

My particular friend group doesn't really dress like hipsters, but we do have nerdy fandom stuff. Does that count?

"And make fun of our exes"

I guess she kinda wasn't lying about the exes. If he hurt one of us pretty badly, yeah we would make fun of him. All within moderation of course.

"It feels like a perfect night for breakfast at midnight"

Breakfast food is the best.

"To fall in love with strangers"

Sure, we fall in love with strangers...fictional characters that is...

"We're happy, free, confused, and lonely at the same time. It's miserable and magical."

Same Taylor. Same. Except you left out a few teensy details. I would change this to say "We're slap-happy, crazed, lost, and lonely." We may be happy, but sometimes it's a direct result of sheer insanity or slap-happiness caused by many a sleepless night. We're at a loss for how to adult and we're always bouncing back and forth between school and home. When we're at school, we miss our family. When we're home, we miss our friends. There's no winning. We're always lonely. It's miserable, but magical because we're becoming our own persons. But hey, Taylor's lyrics sound a lot better.

"Tonight's the night when we forget about the deadlines"

Wait, when was that paper due?

"I don't know about you, but I'm feeling 22. Everything will be alright if you keep me next to you"

Translation: You gotta keep me next to you, cause we're in this together. I can't do this without you friend. If you go down, we go down together.

"You don't know about me, but I'll bet you want to"

Maybe if I'm an extrovert? But I'm not? Bye.

"Everything will be alright if we just keep dancing like we're 22"

Translation: Let's pretend our lives are not falling apart. Let's pretend we're not all on the brink of a mental break down. How do we do that? Dance like there's no tomorrow.

"It seems like one of those nights, this place is too crowded."

Translation: There's too many people here. Why'd we come to a party again? Oh yeah, to pretend we're not falling apart. Maybe we should have just stayed home. I need to write that paper anyway.

"Too many cool kids"

This could go three ways.

Translation 1: Wow, are all these people ready for a melt down too?

Translation 2: Wow, are all these people avoiding homework too?

Translation 3: I don't know these people. Let's go home. We could just watch Netflix and achieve the same level of procrastination, just with less people.

"It seems like one of those nights, we ditch the whole scene and end up dreaming instead of sleeping."

This also has a few different translations.

Translation 1: We ditched the party to watch Netflix, now all of us can't sleep. Instead we're staring at the ceiling of our various rooms counting the tiles in an attempt to not think about that assignments we should have done. All that homework time...wasted.

Translation 2: We left the party only to go get pancakes and talk all night. Who needs sleep when you have good friends, adventures, and sugar?

"We're happy, free, confused, and lonely in the best way. It's miserable and magical."

Note: There is a change here. This time, instead of "at the same time," the lyrics say " in the best way." That means we're all suffering together.

"Tonight's the night when we forget about the heartbreaks"

Translation: Let's not think about what we're doing after graduation. Let's go get some waffles.

Ladies and Gentlemen, there we have it. Either Taylor Swift had hidden messages within her song, or she was not talking about normal college life at age 22. Yes, we spend time hanging out with friends. Yes we have loads of fun that won't be the same past a certain age. Being 22 is an experience that won't come again. Yes, it comes with some (and by some, I mean a lot) of insanity. But that's okay. Sometimes you need a little insanity, some crazy late night ice-creams dates, or even the occasional night in. Life is a roller-coaster and we're all in this together. Enjoy it while you can, because life is always changing.