What exactly is adulting and how do we do it? Adulting is that awkward chunk of time that starts when you go to college and ends when you feel settled in your life. We’re not real adults yet, but we’re not teenagers anymore either. I guess you could call it “adults in training,” or to be more accurate, “adults in training that are having an identity crisis, have absolutely no money, and are constantly panicking and running in circles.” Yet these years are the “best years” of our lives.

Personally, I’m a big planner. I thoroughly plan everything and I’m extremely organized. When I was a freshman in college, I had an entire life plan ready to go that I was dead set on executing with as little change as possible. Needless to say, the life plan I once had has gone out the window altogether. Now that I’m one year away from graduating, I have no idea what I want to be doing after college. My solution: go get a masters degree in something totally unrelated to what I currently do. Why not? It’s only a little more debt.

That debt just adds to the never-ending money struggle. Whether you’re buying books or art supplies, you get really creative with distributing your money between school, food, and these new things we get called bills. When you’re aboard the money struggle bus, it really inspires a lot of creativity when food shopping. Although I frequently eat chicken nuggets and the college classic, Ramen Noodles, I’ve definitely learned how to get the most out of the last $5 I have in my wallet. The bills might be the worst. Bills really make you ask yourself things like, “Do I really need this coffee right now?” The answer is always yes but your wallet always says no. So you get the coffee anyway.

While these years of struggling through adulting are supposed to be the best years of our lives, they are hands down the most stressful and full of change but also exciting. Even through all the stress and struggle, you have those satisfying little win moments when you figure out how to get stuff done without calling your parents. My first big win was doing my taxes with no errors and without forgetting about a W2. Those wins balance out the stress and make life a little easier. While adulting can be hard, it’s completely necessary to pass on into true adulthood with an established career and life ahead of you.

With years of adulting ahead of me, I look back on the past three years and wouldn’t change anything, even the struggles and stress. You learn a lot about yourself and what true adult life might be like and what you want out of your future. Adulting gives you the motivation you need to work hard enough to get what you want and be happy. Plus some of the greatest memories are made when you and your roommates are MacGyver-ing your way through household maintenance you can’t actually afford to get fixed. Adult on, fellow college students, and remember, we’re all on this struggle bus together.