Being from Utah, the state that praises young marriage, I scroll through my Facebook timeline every day and see a new engagement, wedding photos or even a pregnancy.

I always get confused because they're all people that I went to middle school and high school with, but now they have families and started a new chapter of their lives while I'm up here in Washington going to school. Sometimes I think about what would have happened if I followed that status quo and got married before I was able to finish my degree. The thought makes me sad because I didn't work so hard in my life up until this point just to give it all up for a guy.

One of my closest friends from 8th grade is able to do it all, she is still going to dental hygienist school while starting a family, it's impressive honestly. But she is one out of the dozens of people I know getting married and most of the time I notice that the girl doesn't go back to school. She's content with starting a family and staying at home, which is great if that's really what you want. But why did you work so hard throughout high school and your first year of college if you were just going to give it all up?

My parents have never bothered to ask if I'm in a relationship (though my brother has numerous times) when I go home over breaks because they know that I'm always going to focus on my education and career first and romantic relationships second at this point in my life. I have been asked by various members of my extended family and my answer is always going to be the same, "I'm too busy to think about that right now."

It's not because I'm against relationships in college, and I think it's healthy for some people, but actually marrying someone is so far from my mind as I think it should be for most people my age.

The way I see it, before you can get married you have to know how to be completely independent. You need to know that you can support yourself on your own before marriage otherwise you essentially go from your parent's house to moving in with your boyfriend/ fiancé/ husband, not knowing if you're capable of being 100 percent independent.

I see my parents as a role model for my own future relationships. They knew each other long before they got married, but the biggest thing that stuck out to me about them was the fact that they both had lived on their own first. Not only that but they both had established themselves in the work environment, my dad with a big tech company and my mom running her own business. They had their own jobs and knew how to live alone, which is what I feel is necessary in order to have any healthy relationship.

My view on marrying young? I wouldn't be able to do it right now and attain all my goals in life. I want to work in the business world so I don't know where I'll end up after I graduate from college. My career path could literally take me anywhere and a relationship would complicate things.

For example, let's say hypothetically if I did get married right now, then what would my husband and I do if we both got offered our dream jobs on opposite ends of the country? Someone would have to compromise which isn't a bad thing, but I don't want to resent my husband for not allowing me to take a job that I worked my entire life for, nor would I want him to resent me for the exact same reason.

If you are able to marry young, and can still get everything you want out of life with no regrets, then I say go for it. But I personally cannot even think about marriage at such a young age when I don't even have my own life together yet. Sometimes it's okay to take care of yourself first and that's not selfish. In fact, it's necessary before marrying someone and having to take care of your spouse as well. Learn to live alone, before you learn to grow with someone else.