Nostalgia is a funny concept. It can happen to anyone at any time and for any reason at all. It seems like it should only happen to people who have lived a long life and have many things to look back on, but for me, a 19-year-old, it happens quite often. While my life seems to be just getting fully started, there are many things that have passed that I find myself longing for.

From the way you felt when it was getting dark outside on a summer night in elementary school to waking up every winter day in middle school hoping for a snow day, the feelings overwhelm us. Looking back on all the nights spent hoping for the next to make us realize that before we knew it, we were here and all the memories of our childhood are now behind us. People say that we are still young and to “just wait ‘til you get to our age” but we have actually reached the age where we can say that to younger people, and that’s scary.

Friendships are so important when you think about the past. Who were you with the first time you did bad on a test in middle school when classes got hard? Who were you with the first time a boy or girl made you sad? Who were you with on those quintessential snow days? Who did you spend every summer day with until it got too dark and your parents called you inside?

It seems that everyone these days assumes that once you hit college, all of your childhood friends are gone or should be at least. Everyone is all about “making new friends” and “getting away from their old lives.” What I have realized is that the friends from your childhood that you still have are there to stay and that couldn’t be more important.

We take time for granted. Everyone wishes days away because maybe that one was hard or something better is planned for tomorrow, but nothing is guaranteed. A good friend of mine said, “You’re never gonna know when, but one day will be the last time you all hang out together in one place.”

That immediately brought back all the memories that my friends have had together and made me realize that while yes, we are young, there is going to be a point where we do not all live minutes from each other. That is the part of growing up that is scary. It is fun, don’t get me wrong, but it is also overwhelming at times.

We spend a majority of our childhood/teen years wanting the future. Wanting the big house with the husband/wife and the nice fancy cars with the perfect children. Of course, that sounds amazing but wishing the rest of your years away will only intensify the longing for something more.

Let’s live in the moment now with the people that have shaped us, because one day, everything will be different but at least you’ll have good memories to look back on. “Can you remember who you were before the world told you who you should be?”