As a student, you spend all of high school dreaming about graduation day. You count the years, then the months and days, until you get there. We tend to forget that life doesn't end there, though. Most high school students then proceed to get a college education.

While at college — or university — we repeat the same process. Start counting down the days until we walk across that stage and receive a diploma. We count down the days until we get to "live in the real world".

But, is that really what we want?

Personally, I'm torn. I want to graduate because it has always been a goal of mine. I dream of seeing a physical proof of all the effort I've put into getting a degree. All the boring — and stupid expensive — textbooks, the all-nighters, the group projects with people who get your stress to peak to the stratosphere and so on. I need to prove that all of it was worth it

I dream about the ending of all of this headaches, until I start analyzing the alternative.

Graduation means no more meeting your friends in-between classes to get lunch — or even just talk.

It means getting a job.

It means saying goodbye to three-months summer breaks and spring breaks.

It means no more fixing your schedule in a way that will allow you to wake up after 10 a.m.

It means growing up.

And let's be honest, growing up is freaking scary!

I dream of my perfect job and get excited about finding one that makes me happy and allows me to live a good life. I dream of having a cute office and decorate it with cute things.

I dream of being happy.

So, the question is: can I graduate college without having to go through the whole #adulting thing afterward?

Asking for a friend.