Growing up is a task everyone on this earth is forced to do. It is a thing that us as creatures can’t escape. Recently this thought popped into my head from seeing this video on tiktok about old childhood nostalgia. This video had the sound of birds chirping on a summer day, they showed things like the big fisher price wiffle ball bats, the push ice pops, slip n slides, trampoline, and like a kid cuisine. When I saw this it made me stop and think about how far I have come and how much things have changed. 

Andy Bernard from the office once said “I wish there was a way to know you're in "the good old days", before you've actually left them.” That quote really made me think about how much stuff you have done throughout the years, the memories you forget about, and the memories you wish you could experience again. Countless times I hear from my older relatives the saying, “ enjoy it when you're young, because it is gone before you know it.”  

I’m graduating soon and I am constantly reminded about memories from the past, like that one time in freshman year when we used to abuse the free lunch policy and take like five lunches or when the bathroom overloaded next to the library and there was brown water all over the hallways. Just memories that make you realize that was four years ago, and I believe time really does fly because ever since I was a kid I feel like school years have been getting shorter and shorter and moving faster and faster. Always looking for that ending goal, what's next, can’t waste time. And then it’s here. It's the last time I will officially live with my parents, the last time I will have lunch at the same time everyday, and also the last time I can call myself a senior in high school.

It’s Scary, but also exciting. A new chapter in the book of memories, College, the place where you really learn who you are, you have to survive on your own, be responsible, live without your family. It's a big jump. But I couldn’t be more excited. Freedom is what I live for, no more chores, no more curfew, no more having to text my mom where I am staying the night. I’m free, and it is time for me to make my decisions in this world to shape who I want to be as a human, and how I want to leave my mark on this earth.