Most of my adolescence was spent playing house. 

As I got older, playing house became too adolescent, but we all still had those Disney Channel crushes. When Camp Rock aired, my life was forever changed. I was infatuated with Nick Jonas. I used to text Cha Cha, and ask how to get in touch with him to send him a letter -- if Cha Cha ever given me a real address… still bitter. Boys who existed beyond Disney channel were irrelevant. 

High school brought me my first huge, real life crush. I didn’t think boys like this one would ever notice me, and I acted like I didn’t care if they did or didn't. Wrapped up in basketball, I stayed busy and focused. I never got into the party scene and, unlike most of my friends, had yet to experience heartbreak. I told myself I really didn’t need a boyfriend, and I did not want one. My friends were miserable and I couldn’t relate.

As I write this, I am in my second year of college at the University of Arkansas as a public relations major. No longer a basketball player, I spent my first year of college desperately searching for my identity. Never having had a taste of what partying is, college left me with many choices I had never been in the position to make. It was crazy. It was some of the best times of my life and the worst. My first year was a roller coaster that I was happy to get off of for the summer.

I certainly did not expect to meet someone back home. I was going home to work, make money for school expenses, and to try and understand the  balance of work and play. I had never been interested in a guy, like I was with this one. This was someone whom I enjoyed hanging out with, who was hilarious and -- not to mention -- a Division 1 athlete with the obvious perks -- height, build, muscles. Shallow, I know. It was different. We went on real dates and I thoroughly enjoyed his company, something I definitely was not used to.     

When reality set in and school approached, I over analyzed what would happen when it was time to part ways. I wasn’t going to be the one to bring up that awkward, “where do we go from here,” conversation. I thought it was just a summer thing. I was surprised when he suggested we try to make it work. I was excited, but I was also excited to get back to school. I had just landed an internship as a communications intern for Razorback athletics, and had been away from my  best friends for three months. I didn’t know how I could manage a long distance fling, school, an internship, and social life. It took two weeks before I accepted I couldn’t have it all. Relationships require work, trust, and time -- of which we quickly realized we were not very good at once we were six hours apart.      

Anything you do requires effort. If you skip class, don’t study, and go out all the time, the lack of effort shows in your grades. If you don’t surrender yourself to being the best intern possible, and going the extra mile when it's needed, then you are just another name in the list of wannabes. And if you don’t take time to appreciate, care for, and respect someone -- no matter the distance -- then you are better off taking care of what you do have control over, which is only yourself.     

I am a sophomore and, yes, I still want it all. I want the same things I acted like I had when I played house, but not any time soon. I think some of us have gotten off track. We are young and this is the best time to go after what we want.  It's the time to put your shoulder pads and helmets on, and battle for what you want. It's our time to figure out this whole work versus play thing, and to fail a few more times.We need to work our butts off and be exhausted, and then be convinced it's a great idea go out with our best friends and dance on tables at fraternities, even though were not supposed to. It's our time to make memories and relationships we will take with us when our time in college is over and we are forced to become grownups.

The actions we take, the company we keep, and the life lessons we learn along the way are what we can reflect on when we are too old to be young. Each day we make strides to have it all. Let us not forget to keep our eye on the prize while we still have prizes to wish for.