Everyone says time flies. That college will be four of the best years of your life. To cherish every moment. Problem is, you never really realize how special moments are when they're happening.

You don’t know it when you move into your dorm room as a freshman and unpack your life as you say goodbye to your family. You don’t know it when you meet a complete stranger you’re going to share a room with for the next year and who will eventually become one of your closest friends.

You don’t know it when you’re playing games and snapping selfies with that random freshman at orientation week who will end up being your best friend.

When you're back at home for summer after your first year of college and catching up with your high school best friends.

You won’t realize it that late night you and your friends stayed up until 3 am to study for the biochemistry exam and snuck a whole pizza into the library using your backpack. Or that time when you guys took a spontaneous road trip across the state.

You won't know it on a first date as you laugh about life and share that last bite of ice cream, or at a formal when you're taking pictures and dancing the night away.

It won't hit you as you begin a research project and slowly start making findings of your own. When your volunteer work hits home and makes you realize your passions.

You won't realize in the moment how much knowledge you're gaining, not just in the classroom but because you're surrounded by hundreds of perspectives and life experiences.

You start to realize it as you take on leadership roles, when underclassmen start to look at you for answers and guidance. When your parents and family are the people you can’t wait to go home and spend time with.

When in the past, love was a distant concept, but now you see your friends' engagement photos or baby announcements popping up regularly.

And soon, you and your friends are about to start your senior year. And you're all interviewing for jobs or filling out grad school applications and making career and life decisions. And you realize never again in your life will you literally live next door to your best friends or within walking distance of 4,000 other people your age.

And you understand these were the good times, some of the best of your life.

But the point is not be sad about the ending of a life chapter — rather to be excited and engaged and ready for life.

And most of all, to cherish the moments before they become memories.

“One day, you’re 17 and you’re planning for someday. And then quietly, without you ever really noticing, someday is today. And then someday is yesterday. And this is your life.” –One Tree Hill