When I think about my future, I honestly don’t see kids as a part of it.

As of right now, I plan to move to New York and attend school for journalism, and while I’m there I would love to study abroad and become fluent in French so that hopefully one day I’m able to move there and write news in Europe.

Nowhere in there did I plan to settle down in a suburb somewhere with a husband and a few kids. When I tell people this they don’t really seem to fully understand where I’m coming from.

So many of my friends and people around me have their entire lives mapped out already. They know that they want to go to college, get married, settle down with a husband or wife and start a family.

It's weird to me that they've planned everything out, and there's no room for exploring who they are outside of their career.

Here’s the situation, my mom is one of my favorite people in the entire world. She’s one of my best friends, and she’s taught me to stand up for myself and be strong in my morals and beliefs.

My mom gave me a voice of my own and has given up so much to make sure that my brother and I have everything we need. I can’t see myself sacrificing my career and future for someone else.

I’m set in my ways, and I want to be able to do as much as I can and see as much of the world as possible before I die. If I have kids, that will have to be my priority. I’ll have to worry about them and raising them to be good people.

The life of baby clothes and nursery school isn’t as glamorous to me as it is to other people.

It’s not that I don’t like kids. I think kids are great. They’re incredibly smart, creative and they’re always down to play and have fun.

But, there’s a lot of work and sacrifice that goes into raising kids that I just don’t think I’m equipped to handle, or ever will be for that matter.

Whenever I say that I don’t want kids, I’m always told that I’m too young to make that decision or that my views will change when I meet the “right guy,” but that’s just not it.

I don’t want kids because I can’t justify stopping my entire life to have them. It isn’t me being selfish, and it’s not that I’m too young and don’t understand. I don’t want kids. And that’s OK.