This summer I did not get to go on a fancy cruise to the Bahamas, nor did I get to feed the hungry in some third world country. I stayed home and I got to do something that I haven't done in a long time, act my age.

Let me preface this article real quick and give you a little information about myself. I'm 19 and majoring in communications. I write for the Odyssey (obviously) and have held internship positions that has allowed me to work in the industry I dream about. I'm graduating this year, putting me in college for two years. Needless to say, I have my shit together.

Since junior year of high school, I've pushed myself into being the best I can be, not that that's a bad thing. In doing so, I've matured faster than my high school peers which in some ways, isolated me from the typical high school experience. I didn't go to prom, high school football games, etc. Most of it was by choice but I also didn't feel comfortable in being around people who I didn't have anything in common with.

For the past few years, I feel like I've always been going. Always pushing myself mentally and always acting like someone older than I really am.

I feel like there's no room for mistakes and there isn't if I want to graduate this year. It's strained me and has really shaped who I am. But I felt like there was something missing. I know some of you are reading this and you're not going to understand what I mean at all. Having movies and shows based around the typical high school experience and looking on Instagram and seeing people my age going out and having fun while I'm spending my time writing articles, building up a portfolio, making sure my social media accounts would be considered acceptable by my future employers, created this hole that I needed to be filled.

Some of you are going to read this and be like, "That’s what I should have been doing instead of partying" or "Wow Cate, time well spent! Good job." I think what I'm getting at is that, I didn't have any balance between work and play.

Anyways, I think this summer was my time to act my age. It was me being irresponsible for a little too long in an attempt to get back my lost high school experience. This isn't me justifying my childish and sometimes regrettable actions, this is me explaining what I did because this summer wasn't me "having a mental breakdown" friends. It was me realizing that after this school year, there isn’t going to be room for mistakes. I definitely did make mistakes over the summer, I know that and honestly, I'm not sorry for acting my age for once.