As the summer rolls and everyone gets ready for the new semester to start, I want to talk a little bit about my journey through the collegiate world and try to offer a little bit of advice to those of you who are worried about what direction to take in life. Growing up is a difficult thing to do. These days it seems like the world is getting more challenging, and there comes a time when you have to ask yourself the important question: What do I want to be when I grow up?

Well let me walk you through the journey I took, and maybe it will give you a little bit of insight.

We're gonna get personal.

After I graduated from high school I enrolled at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro as a member of their International Honors College. I had left high school with a good GPA, good SAT test scores and had done more extracurricular activities than most people know exist.

Basically I had tried to be that all-American student you see in 1980s high school movies. I was going to go to college, study biology, graduate with honors and go to med school. I had it all planned out.

Unfortunately, that bright future I kept trying to convince myself I'd wanted to be started fading quickly. By the end of my freshman year, I was beginning to sink into my first bout of depression, which had caused my grades to start sinking.

I went home for the summer thinking I would just need to get my head on straight and soon I could get back on track.

As the sophomore year started, I was convinced I was not going to be a doctor, and instead I should focus myself on becoming a politician. I had been involved in local and state politics since turning 18, and thus believed I had an advantage over other students in my new major, political science. I actually enjoyed the classes I was taking in that program.

It was 2012, and I was studying the process of politics and elections during a presidential election. The fall semester continued on, and I realized how tiring the whole political game was becoming. Both sides were firing cheap shots at each other, and I was learning about how dirty that game could be. It was making my depression worse.

I lost sleep.

I started partying.

I lost friends all because I would rather have sat in my room drinking than engage with other people or study.

I should have seen the sign that told me to get some help when I was forced to go to a couple therapy sessions while on academic probation, but instead I would skip medication and go party with new friends that were enabling my self-destructive habits.

I figured you could use a pick-me-up.

Basically, I failed out of UNCG and worked for a time before injuring my back two years ago. I moved back home and, thanks to the support of my parents, I cleaned up my act and got back into school.

I told myself I would never let myself stoop so low again.

Throughout my time at UNCG I had been taking psychology courses. They were the only courses in which I actually found a real passion and tried my best to pass. It finally dawned on me that I should study something that I truly cared about and not a subject I was told to study.

I dabbled a little in anthropology and sociology as well, but it was in psychology that I could open up a textbook and read for hours while trying to unlock the secrets of the mind. I learned how to fight my depression and how to see the warning signs before another depressive episode.

To sum things up, it has taken me a long time to finally get to my senior year of college, but in May I am planning to finally take that walk across the stage with a cap and gown.

I changed my major multiple times, and a couple of those were back to majors I had attempted before.

My point is to tell you that yes, college can be a difficult thing to handle. It is a time of discovery and curiosity in an environment that introduces you to the world and yet still keeps you within a bubble of protection. It can be scary trying to figure out what direction to take and sometimes you stumble.

Sometimes you fall flat on your face.

If that happens to you like it did for me, then pick yourself up.

Place your best foot forward, and follow a path that is a true passion.

When I graduate, it will have taken me seven years to finish up a four-year degree. It is never too late to finish school, and you can always succeed if you set your mind to it.