As I enter my 21st year of life, I have never felt more like I was playing a game of impersonation. Even more so than when I used to yell at my dolls for not turning in their homework on time, and punishing them by shoving them in a cupboard a la Harry Potter style. The similarity between then and now, is that I’m still pretending to be an adult. And the difference, ironically, is back then I knew what I was doing.

In elementary school, life was fun. We had crayons, snacks, consistent friends, and could eat junk food without repercussions. Life was much simpler than. Our biggest worry was figuring out what we were going to do at recess. Back then you didn’t worry about saying something stupid or if your backpack matched your shoes. All we knew how to do was doing what we wanted, and so that is what we did.

Junior high was another day and time... of pure torture. Though I complain about my life right now, I would never wish to go back to those days. Ever. Those were the days of figuring out who you were and Hollister logos on everyones clothes. Braces were the worst, bodies were awkward, kids were mean, and being yourself was lame unless you were hot. In Junior high, was anyone really hot?

Then there was high school. The time of new adventures, like football games, driving, meeting new friends, sneaking out, and other forms of rebellion against our parental units. The best and worst time of our lives combined. The rush of throwing your cap into the air -- that was the moment. Unless it was bobby-pinned to your head, like me, then watching all the caps fly into the air, was the moment.

Now, here we are, present day, in college. The actual best times of our lives; once we figure our lives out. It is the time to reinvent ourselves without anyone telling us how to do it. We are no longer in elementary school where mom picked our clothes out, junior high where we had to be like everyone else, or high school where we were like our close friends. This is college, and in college you are whoever you want to be and no one can say anything about it. We are adults now and don’t care what anyone has to say.

But it is not that transparent. College is actually really difficult. Here we expected to balance school work, friends, love life, for some a job, and extracurricular activities. As if going to college isn’t enough, we now have to bend over backwards on one foot to impress future employers.

All hope is not lost though my fellow fake adults. Before we know it we will be killing it in our respected fields of study and living the dream. Until then, Real Adults, if you are reading this, give the nearest college student a sympathetic pat on the back. Otherwise I fear we may begin to see posts on Facebook saying “One like = One prayer for this struggling college student. Please send help.”