Digitally raise your hand if you've heard that title phrase applied to either your high school years, your college years, or both. Keep them raised if you found your stomach drop or your thoughts frantically race to determine how much time you have left before the excitement is slated to end. Keep them raised if you dread what comes next -- if this is the best things will ever be, what does that say about the rest of life? Keep them raised if that makes you roll your eyes and tap your feet impatiently, waiting to hear some actual advice.

I'm pretty sure most people recognize that this statement is a bit of an exaggeration. I would assume that the people who say it wouldn't really agree with it if they think about what they're really saying. So I don't mean to go on a rant of why you shouldn't speak the title of this article. The problem with this idea is that it reflects a pervasive, harmful mindset in our culture today, especially among us millennials. It's the idea that life is somehow more meaningful when you're young, that you hold all of your promise as a teenager or as a twenty-something. That somehow after you take off that cap and gown for the last time, you're pigeon-holed into what is most likely a life of dreary adult monotony.

You've had your fun, and now it's time to work. And maybe in the midst of that grey area, you'll find sparks of excitement. Maybe, if you're really lucky, you'll make it big as whatever it is you want to be -- an artist, a photographer, a famous travel blogger --something exciting.

But for the majority of us, life will probably fall into a steady routine. The mistake is assuming that such a routine is a bad thing. Or worse, assuming that you're stuck in that cycle.

I admit to looking at my future with some trepidation -- I have this weird fear that graduation will find me living in some sleepy town and doing the same thing every single day of the rest of my life as though such monotony is inevitable no matter how much I fight against it.

And honestly, this way of thinking is absolutely absurd. A 9-to-5 does not necessitate a boring, average life. And there's nothing inherently boring or average about living in the suburbs, starting a family or maintaining a steady job. There's a fear of settling down that I've noticed in myself and other college students, and I feel like the problem lies in the fact that we often let our circumstances define our attitude.

So if you don't like routine, it's up to you to switch it up. The attitude that you can only be spontaneous when you're in school may hold you back from some pretty incredible adventures. And the idea that you're stuck in whatever job you have simply isn't true. For example, Laura Ingalls Wilder started the Little House on the Prairie series at 65 -- the assumption that you have to have everything figured out in your 20s didn't do anything to stop her.

College can be a great experience -- and, well, high school will most likely be better than middle school. It's good to enjoy it and to understand that it is a precious and unique time of your life. But don't put it up on a pedestal that it doesn't deserve. And if you had a bad experience with college, don't assume that you're washed up at 22. Unless you're a literal beached whale, you've got a lot to look forward to.

So get psyched for your post-college life! You have millions of opportunities ahead of you, and this world can be as big and exciting as you want to make it. Whether that involves exploring a new coffee place in your lunch break, taking a trip to Belize for two weeks or publishing a book you've been wanting to write for years, make things happen. Have the best 40 years of your life, and be grateful that you don't have to live under the false assumption that everyone peaks in high school. Because that would be a sad world to live in.