It's no secret that the four years you spend at college will undoubtedly be the best and quickest years of your life. I will definitely not say that I'm an exception to this rule, because I will be the first to admit that I wouldn't trade my college experience for anything, and wish I was granted just a little more time to appreciate the life I was living surrounded by my best friends, mentors and with my parents in the background for the first time in my life. However, in the one month since I earned my degree and bid farewell to schooling, I've learned that post-grad life isn't as bad as everyone makes it out to be.

As young adults, we are conditioned by social media, friends, family, and even professors to think that college is the final security blanket we are given in life. The belief is that come graduation day, you need to have your entire life and career figured out. If for some crazy reason you don't, it's OK. Everything has a way of working out. Once you jump over the stressful hurdle of finding a job after graduation, there is a feeling of relief and satisfaction that your hefty tuition money has been put to somewhat good use, and you can hope that your degree is worth something.

Yes, there will definitely be days where you dread getting out of your bed to go into work. There will be times when you wish you could be back in college, and skipping a class or two was a viable option whenever you felt like it. There will be countless times where you wish you were living with your roommates again, laughing over stupid jokes and dancing to throwbacks on the weekends as you got ready to go out.

There will also be days where you enjoy the fact that you have an income that isn't minimum wage for the first time in your life. There will be days where you feel mature and like you can come off to others like you have your life together, even if it's an act.

I guess what I'm saying is enjoy your time at college. There will be nothing like it, and it will fly by quicker than you'd like it to. Make the most of every day there, because soon you'll wake up and it will all be over. But when the time comes for you to move on to another chapter in life, don't dwell on the past. You will never grow that way.

So here's to my alma mater. I definitely miss you, but I can live without you, and I guess that's biggest lesson you could have taught me.