It is crazy to think that this past weekend I watched one of my closest friends get married. I definitely do not feel old enough to have friends getting married and having babies! Granted these friends are a few years older than me, but still it’s not all that far off.

I remember on my tenth birthday thinking that in only six more years I would get to drive. And in the same thought thinking six years is a very long time to wait. Yet, that time went by remarkably quickly and before I knew it I was taking drivers education in high school. Once I started driving, I started thinking about what it would be like to not live at home anymore. While I am not fully on my own just yet, living in the residence halls on campus is certainly not like living at home. Before I know it I will have my own apartment. All this time that I thought was going to “take forever” seems to have passed by in the blink of an eye.

Everyone says that in college time flies, but holy smokes, does that time fly! I swear just yesterday I was deciding which university I was going to attend and making plans for my last summer before college. I was getting excited about living away from home for the first time ever and trying to decide what I could leave at home when I left and what I couldn’t live without.

I now only have a year and a half left of college. Suddenly “What do you want to do when you grow up?” is a very scary question because “when you grow up” is now in the very near and quickly approaching future! All of a sudden it is time to decide what graduate schools to apply to, to make sure everything is in order to graduate on time and to figure out when/how loans will be paid back. All of a sudden adulthood is so close I can almost touch it and it is honestly terrifying.

We all get so caught up in planning for our futures that we forget to enjoy what is happening now. Whatever you may believe, we only get to live this life once. So why waste it putting all of our time and energy planning an uncertain future? Yes plans have to be made to a certain extent, but there’s no sense in trying to control every variable that life will through your way. Maybe your first kid will come sooner than expected or college takes five years instead of four. Maybe your dream job isn’t all you had it cracked up to be and after years of working towards it, you find yourself back at square one trying to figure out what you want to do with your life.

Right now most of you reading this are probably in high school or college. At this point in your life you may think you know what's what, but in all honesty, you are just getting your feet wet. Study hard and do well in your classes but don’t forget to make memories outside the classroom too. Make sure you really savor every moment in life, as they will only happen once.