I have always felt that I am older than what I really am. I am only 19 years old but most days, I feel like I am closer to 30. It's not that I want to wish my life away, it's more of I don't agree with what my generation does and I feel as if I don't fit in.

With being an old soul in a young body, there are issues that arise.

Friendships are sketchy and can fade out quickly.

People in my age group tend to spend their times exploring life. Their explorations include smoking or vaping, doing drugs, drinking, and partying. I don't find any of these things appealing. Vaping, though it may be looked at as something better than smoking or a safe way to get a little buzz, says Dr. Michael Siegel, a tobacco researcher and professor of community health services at the Boston University School of Public Health.

All of these things are what most of my friends have been exploring with. We are in college and they say there is a time and place for everything and that place is college. But for me, this has been cause of a lot of my friendships dying out. We have lost common interests because the focuses are no longer the same. Though it is sad to lose friends, but sometimes it is inevitable.

People tell you that you are no fun.

This is one of the harder things to deal with at my current stage in life. As I mentioned before, I am not into going out and partying, smoking, drinking, etc. But that doesn't mean I don't like to have fun. There are plenty of other ways to have fun that don't involve any of these things. So when people tell me I am no fun, it's so annoying.

I am viewed as a mother.

In my orientation group my freshmen year of college, I was asked if one of the girls in my group was my daughter. She was a year older than me. I was then asked if I was a senior here.

I watch a four-year-old and a twelve-year-old and I cannot tell you the amount of times I have been mistaken for their mother.

I am always worried about how everyone is doing: whether they made it home safely, if they're taking the proper medicine when they are sick, if they're staying up too late, getting their homework done on time, etc.

Common thread here: I have motherly traits. I don't mind this part of being an old soul. The reason I do these things for other people is because that's what I am focused on right now, which is doing well in school, maintaining my health, finding job/internship opprotunities, and living life.

It is hard to make friends.

A lot of times, people my age and I don't seem to get along. This kind of goes hand in hand with my first point. It makes finding relationships difficult because of the lack of similarities between us. I always find myself making friends with seniors or even adults sometimes.

Sometimes you feel lonely.

With being so different from everyone around you, it can feel lonely. You feel as if you are the only one around that views the world the way you do. Technically, that is somewhat true because we are all individuals. But I feel I view the world in a way that is different. It is focused on the positives and what the future is going to bring me. I don't focus a lot on the "now" moments. If I do, it is about what these "now" moments can bring me in the future. It's as if I am sitting all alone in a room full of people.

I know that there are people who may view the world like this, but it is difficult to find them. I think this is why I have always been close with my parents. Their views and their experiences are ones that I can somewhat relate to. Whenever I find someone who shares the same types of views as I do, it is always a breath of fresh air.

Being an old soul in a young body is a challenge, but I don't think I would want to be any different. I enjoy my views because I am different and I am unique. I look at things the way I want to, not the way everyone else does. It is sometimes lonely but only if it's viewed negatively does it hurt. If you view loneliness as a different word for uniqueness, then all of a sudden the hurtful ties with loneliness become positive.

So look for that old soul in you. One day, it could change your world.