We’ve all been there - you log onto Facebook after a long, stressful day, and see yet another announcement from an exuberant classmate.

“After five years of being together, we’re finally engaged!” “Today, I landed the internship of a lifetime! One step closer to my career!” “I just moved in with my boyfriend!” Post after post after post line your wall, all of the people seeming like they have everything all together in their teens and early twenties.

If you’re anything like me, you’re probably staring at your laptop screen in your sweatpants and eating your Easy Mac, wondering why your life can’t be as put together as these peoples’. You’re single, struggling to pay rent with the little money in your account, and still have no idea what you’re going to do with your degree. Comparing yourself to these people probably makes you feel like crap. But you know what? It shouldn’t. It’s okay to be exactly where you are.

It’s okay to not have your entire life planned out at 18, 19, or 20 years old. It’s okay to be unsure of what your tomorrow is going to look like. It’s okay to not know who you’re going to marry or where you’re going to work this summer or even when you’re going to find time to eat dinner. It’s okay. Because you’re young, you’re free, and this time, believe it or not, is an important part of your life.

These years we have in college are meant for that unsureness and that instability. This is the time in our lives to learn new things, discover what we’re truly passionate about, meet amazing people, go on adventures, make mistakes and learn from them, and above all, discover who you are. All of this growth is impossible if you skip over it all together and settle down too quickly. These years go by so fast, so it’s important to make the absolute best of them. Careers and buying houses and marriage can wait, but the time you have in front of you, right at this minute, can’t.

So go out and make the best of them. Go on road trips with your best friends. Make dinner with just dino nuggets, smiley fries, and Oreos. Apply to jobs that make you happy, not ones that will make you the most money. Find time to play a sport or create a work of art. Jump on your bed with your roommate. Go to a conference in your major’s department or even one in a completely different department. Talk to guys because they’re interesting people, not because you’re hunting for a boyfriend. Join a club of people who share the same passions as you. Go to a concert and discover new music. Go to class in sweatpants and Birkenstocks and a wild messy bun, and not care what people think of you. Be one hundred percent yourself.

These years only happen once in your life. As soon as they’re here, they’re gone, and then you’re really thrown into the real world with even bigger responsibilities. Don’t rush it. Enjoy this time of not knowing; embrace it with all of your heart. You don’t need to have your life together right now. Focus on today. Because today is pretty amazing.