I read "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" for the first time my sophomore year of high school. Like many others, it spoke to me strongly and was exactly what I needed during that time in my life. There is a reason the book and the movie adaptation are wildly popular and often get dubbed the modern day "Catcher in the Rye."

We read as the socially awkward Charlie Kelmeckis goes through freshman year of high school, making friends and finding love along the way. We all identified with various components of his story. However, there was something from "Perks" that has truly resonated with me since I first read it: the idea of feeling “infinite.”

Everybody had those moments in high school where they felt “infinite.” For example, some of mine include driving to the docks at 2 a.m. and watching a meteor shower the night before one of my best friends left for the army. When I exhaustedly watched the sunrise with my boyfriend and friends and, subsequently, made the decision to get fries and milkshakes from the diner instead of going to bed. When I would drive around aimlessly with my best friend, windows down, blasting “All My Loving” by The Beatles, belting out the harmonies. Driving to Woodstock for a day to go cliff jumping. Burning my SAT books in a campfire and roasting marshmallows over it. Sneaking out to see the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center at 3 a.m. Sleeping (if you can even call it sleeping) in my car, with four friends, because we all told our parents we were sleeping at a friend's house, but we were driving around and dancing in our high school’s parking lot instead.

I can replay these moments in my head to the tune of “Home” by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. Like a highlight reel or a montage of memorable moments from a sitcom, this collection of memories come together to create a mosaic of my teenage years. They were carefree, adventurous and a bit illegal. They are the moments I will — probably — tell my kids about in the future. They are the moments that make life worth living.

When you feel “infinite,” you feel just that — untouchable. In these fleeting instances of euphoria you aren’t thinking about school, work, heartbreak or anything for that matter. You’re not worrying about your next move, your next step. You are completely and totally living in the moment.

Then, when you go off to college — it’s easy to fall into a routine. Your life likely becomes a monotonous cycle of going to class, studying, eating, partying and (if you’re lucky) sleeping. It seems like there is no time and no place to have moments of infinity.

However, that just isn’t true. We tell ourselves, “It is what it is,” because it is easier to pretend to be OK with feeling average. But if we live our lives blindly accepting the ordinary, we’ll miss out on so many opportunities.

Say yes to hanging out with that random guy in your calc class. Go on a drive with no destination with a few of your best friends and get lost along the way. Go cliff jumping at that random spot 40 minutes away from your campus. Say “yes” more and jump — not step — out of your comfort zone. You’ll be surprised at all the experiences you’ll collect, the people you’ll meet and the number of times where you’ll swear you are infinite.