As I’ve been growing up I noticed that phrase “when I was younger” has constantly been changing its meaning. The older I get, the farther away certain things feel. Things that I used to be able to remember in every bit of detail, I now notice that I have forgotten them, most of the details blurred with uncertainty. It finally hit me why I couldn’t remember these things, it is simply because the older I got, the farther away the events of my past got. Although this observation seems obvious, it really isn’t. All these events which seem as though they took place a mere five years ago actually take place 10 or more years. At 19 years old I find myself unable to remember things that don’t seem that long ago like the names of my elementary school teachers or birthday parties with my friends. Yeah, it is unavoidable that we are going to forget, I mean after all we are only human. Our brains aren’t made to remember everything after all. But thinking about this all made me realize that in the mist of our crazy lives, we’re never going to be as young again as we are right now at this moment.

When I think of “when I was young” now, I think of when I was in middle school, just like I’m sure many others do as well. The terrible awkward years; braces were coming off, first kisses, I hadn’t yet discovered the art of eyebrow waxing, and my hair was somewhere between a rats nest and a mop due to the fact that I had never experienced a blowout. While those years were utterly embarrassing, they still hold memories that I’ll never forget. Yet I wouldn’t exactly classify those as being my most amazing years. The ones that I think everyone would agree as their favorite are the high school ones, the years where you grew into yourself.

For me, high school held some of my favorite moments and memories ever. They are the years where you discover what alcohol was (and consequently how bad a hangover really is), just how real heartbreak is, how to love someone in more than one way, how important friends are, and how stressful life can get. I’m extremely grateful to have those years, but now that I’m in college those years are starting to fade too. Just like the sixth grade spelling bee, my first ever high school formal is starting to become a blur too. Realizing that made me ask myself, “What happens when ‘when I was younger’ no longer reminds me of high school?” What happens when I’m 50 years old suddenly ‘when I was younger’ refers to my 30s or even my 40s? It’s a scary thought to realize that the youth that we have right now is fleeting. Youth is something precious, something we take advantage of.

We will never be as young as we are now so we need to take advantage of it will we can. Make every moment count. It is time to start making memories right now, memories so unforgettable that even when you are 80 years old and reminiscing your youth that you’re able to recall those high school and college memories still and not just the ones made later in your life. You are young now, so you better start acting like it before it’s too late.