As I spend my summer working every day of the week, watching kids play outside, I find myself once again envious of children. I’ve always been a nostalgic person, and each year that goes by, I long for the past more than before. Recently my social media feeds have been covered with many prom and graduation pictures and I’m realizing that soon I won’t even know anyone in my former school district. Everyone is growing up so quickly. And I grew up so quickly. Age comes upon us sooner than we would ever like, and elders are forever envious of the youth.

Children have it so much easier than they will ever understand. Their days are carefree, exciting, hopeful, blissfully ignorant, and full of new wonders. With five dollars in your pocket, you feel rich – you could buy a couple of chocolate bars or an ice cream or some soda! You don’t have to fret over bills, war, bigotry, and politics. You have so much time to hang out with friends, watch TV, fool around, partake in a variety of activities whether you’re even good at them or not. It’s all about fun. The world is yours to explore.

I wish that I could to back and tell my younger self to not be in such a rush to grow up. That being a teenager isn’t necessarily the coolest thing in the world, that having independence also comes with a plethora of responsibilities, that with each year comes more difficulty and reality, and every moment in the bubble of childhood should be sweetly savored. After all, our youth is such a very small part of our lifespan, and the part we fondly reminisce on the most. Ironically, it is also the other way around – children observe adults with awe, restless for their chance to be grown ups.

In truth, I’m not sure that we ever truly stop being children. Our bodies get bigger, the world sits heavier on our shoulders, but within our hearts is an eternal youth. Now and then, it shows. But mostly we have to play serious just to make it through the years. It can be hard to let go of immature behavior, but we all indulge ourselves.

My senior year of high school, I was set to perform at my graduation ceremony – something I had dreamed of for a couple of years. As a very emotional and musical person, I really enjoy imparting the things I feel or notice through song to others, but now I struggled to find the right things to say. I felt so many things. I thought so many things. Anxiety about entering “The Real World” ate at me, a bit of excitement about college blossomed, and a lot of bittersweet nostalgia ran through my veins.

I looked around and saw so many people eager to escape our small town and move on, and while a part of me felt that tug as well, I felt so rooted in this place I had grown up. This was everything I had ever known – these people, these halls, these mom-and-pop bakeries and coffee shops, these cracked sidewalks, everything quaint and friendly and comfortable. I didn’t want to run off to a strange new place.

And finally, about a week prior to the ceremony, the words came to me. When I stood sweaty on that stage in a giant tent, playing for one of the largest clouds I’d performed for, it was terrifying. And sad. And a proud moment. And I could feel the goosebumps as I closed the melancholic tune with, “When childhood’s over, that’s when you see that being young is the best thing you could ever be.”

So I would close with a congratulations to those who have recently obtained their diploma or degree or blown out another set of candles on their birthday cake, and I would remind everyone that youth is a blessing and it is magical and to hold on to every second as tight as you can, to soak up everything beautiful that time has to offer, because it doesn’t last forever, and once it’s over, you would give anything to relive it.

Listen to my original song, "Class of 2014" on SoundCloud!