Lately, I’ve been thinking about how fast time is going. I look back to my freshman year of college and it feels like yesterday. Now, I am a senior in college and getting ready to graduate from college. I'm only 22 but I feel as though my life is flying by and I haven't got to do or achieve half of the things I want to.

I recently visited a nursing home where I met so many amazing people who have lived life to the fullest. One man, Charlie Rigsby, told us stories of being in the Air Force during the Korean War.

I could have listened to his stories all day about how he did everything he could to protect our country and live a fulfilled life. It made me think of how short our life is in this world. How we don’t take chances, and before we know it, our time has come to an end. Charles made me realize even if we are just a small dot on this planet, our lives can make a big impact on the world.

We get caught up in our daily lives by going to school or work, coming home, cooking dinner, going to sleep, then waking up to do the same thing all over again. I think back to a song by Switchfoot called Thrive. The lyrics say, “I want to thrive, not just survive.” I want to thrive in this world. I want to take chances, do things that make me happy, and not be afraid.

This year, I decided to pick a word of the year: fearless. I want to be fearless when choosing my career path. Fearless about going to new places. Fearless as I graduate college. My goal this year and for the rest of my life is to be fearless and take chances. Because being fearless is better than living a life as another dot is the world.