Spring is approaching, graduation is in sight, and in May, I will be celebrating seven years with the same guy. Seven years is a long time, so naturally my friends and family have started asking the much-anticipated question a lot more frequently. The question I am never surprised to hear, but never have a good enough answer to: “When are you planning on getting married?”

I will be the first to admit that I am wedding obsessed. I adore weddings and everything that goes along with them. I have planned out my dream wedding in great detail, from the flowers and colors to the ring and dress styles. By the looks of my Pinterest board, one might assume that I am currently engaged, but I assure you, this is not the case. I am nowhere near ready to tie the knot.

I am in my early 20s, and the way I see it, I have my whole life ahead of me. I think that your 20s should be a decade dedicated to finding yourself, making mistakes, learning from them, stepping out of your comfort zone, and doing all of the things that make you happy. It’s a time to be selfish, a time to live in the moment, and a time to make decisions for yourself and yourself alone.

Don’t get me wrong; I am not by any means saying that couples that choose to get married at a young age are doomed or at any sort of risk of being unhappy in their marriage. Everyone grows and matures at different rates, and I am sure that these people are very happy, independent, stable, and ready for this kind of commitment, but I’m just not there yet.

There are several factors that come into play here. One of the biggest things is that I have never had to support myself, which I believe is a very important skill to have mastered before starting a life with someone else. I have been fortunate enough to have parents that have supported me financially my entire life. They have put a roof over my head, provided me with all of the essentials, and I have never had to worry about paying for my college tuition.

I appreciate their support more than anything, but I am not quite ready to jump into the real world because I have never had to fend for myself. I don’t know what it's like to be in a sink or swim situation because I’ve always had them to bail me out. There are so many life lessons I still need to learn: how to take care of my taxes, how to change a tire, and how to cook because mac and cheese isn’t going to cut it.

The bottom line is I don’t know what I want out of this life, and I don’t expect myself to. I am restless, indecisive, impulsive, and I change my mind so frequently, it’s hard to keep up. I don’t know what I’m going to wear tomorrow or what I’m going to want for breakfast, so how am I supposed to plan out what I want the rest of my life to look like?

I like to think of myself as a wanderer. I have a hard time staying in one place for too long. I tend to get antsy, and the itch to go explore all of the corners of this world continues to grow. At this point in my life, I would be content living out of a suitcase roaming around wherever the wind takes me, without a final destination. I am not ready to settle down and plant my roots just yet. I am an avid daydreamer, and I have been told quite often that I live in a “fantasy world," but at this point in my life, that’s the way I like it.

I have big dreams that terrify me and career goals that I am determined to meet. I want to be able to look at myself in the mirror and confidently say that I am an intelligent, highly capable, independent woman that can support herself. I have realized that I need to take this time while I’m young to really figure out who I am. I need to explore my passions and follow my dreams no matter how unattainable they may seem. I need to push myself to new limits each day and settle for nothing less than what I deserve. I need to challenge my mind and continue to educate myself in every way possible because that is the only way I will be able to grow and thrive in this world.

The way I see it, there shouldn’t be any rush. Marriage is a huge exciting commitment that I am truly looking forward to someday, but for right now, I am in my 20s and I’m determined to live it up while I can.