Ourselves and our peers reach these milestones all at the same times: we all get our licenses at the same age, we all start college at the same age, we all graduate at the same age... and of course all of the little things between. We all want to stay on this same track as everyone else. Nobody likes to strictly conform, but when it comes to growing up and getting out, we all want to be on the same timeline.

I began attending Michigan State the second semester of my freshman year. Automatically, I felt behind everyone else. All of my friends had four months of experience of something new that I didn't have and it struck a chord with me. Everything I thought I knew, they knew more about. It took some time, but eventually I found us all on the same page.

I was getting jealous over something I had no control over: timing. Here I was, at the university I so badly wanted to attend, but angry at my friends for having a head-start. I was so bothered that we weren't doing the exact same things at the exact same time that I forgot a very important point: we aren't the same people.

We are individuals with different plans and different lives. Maybe my semester set-back happened for a reason. As I enter my senior year, I'm in awe of how amazing the past few years have been. I couldn't imagine anything differently. Though right now, as badly as I would love to be in a big city interning for a great company like a lot of my peers, that's not where I should be at this moment. I'm taking a handful of classes because I actually need to be doing that. My plans are not the next person's plans. Realizing that took me a while.

So you don't have that huge job you want? It's okay, it'll come when you're ready. You aren't starting out in the city you dreamed of? It's okay, you will be there when it's your time. Things aren't working out exactly how you imagined? It's still okay, things are probably going slower right now so you can figure yourself out.

Growing up and becoming an adult is a whole different world than becoming a teenager. It happens at different pace for everyone and we all need to stop overlooking that. Someone could be perfectly happy with all areas of their life, but when it comes down to something so small as our plans for the next couple months, we freak out if we're not doing what the majority is doing.

We're all here in our early twenties, looking at ourselves and everything we've done, and seeing if it will survive the real world. I know as much as the next guy, but I really think everyone here is going to be okay. Everything happens when it's the right time. Do what you can to build the best future for yourself. Just don't get discouraged when you see something with a fully-built house when you're starting on the foundation.