As years go by, holidays and family parties continue to happen, and you soon realize that your once big-numbered family is dwindling down and becoming smaller and smaller. Maybe this is starting to hit me because I’m getting older and I’m no longer the kid that's running around in the backyard with my brothers and cousins, rather the ones holding the conversations and telling family members about college and what we plan on doing for the rest of our lives. There's nothing like answering the 20 questions about relationships, grade point averages, classes, and what we're planning for our future, that every family member has to ask after not seeing you for just one semester.

I feel like last summer I was playing wiffle-ball and street hockey with my brothers, and our only worry was if Dad was going to notice if our rooms weren't clean and that our beds aren't made. Now here we are in college, not worried about making our bed. Instead, we're only worried about if we have finished that 15-page research paper that counts for half your grade in the course, or how we're going to make it through the day with only 4 hours of sleep. I miss the days where I could sit on the couch all day and watch endless movies, or go outside, run around, and not come back in until dinner was ready. Or the nights where you could fall asleep on the couch and somehow end up in your bed.

But of course during our younger years all we could think and talk about was growing up and being just like the teenagers we see in movies. We looked up to our older siblings and wanted to do everything they were doing. We all wanted to skip the childish things and have responsibilities (but believe me, I don't know why I wanted to rush this). All we wanted was to be able to have a car and go on trips, but those adventures today are us driving 3 hours to go back to college -- away from our childhood memories.

Probably the most-missed thing about my childhood is having the option to literally fall asleep anywhere...

Everything happens in the blink of an eye, so really make sure everything you do counts. This is something I wish I could have learned back in high school, but a lesson is a lesson no matter when you realize it. Of course it's sad and extremely stressful to grow up, but there comes a time in life when you need to make your own decisions and be faced with the consequences. We’ve grown and have learned from the people who have raised us and influenced us, but now it's time for us to show them that their efforts were worth it and make them proud.

But growing up is inevitable, so here we go...