Have you ever just looked around you and noticed the people your age? Here I am, twenty years old, and as I look around me I see other people my age. Some are married, some have kids, some are graduating college, and some have been graduated and living their lives for a few years now. Here I am, twenty years old, trying to get back into school, and stressing out about how i got so far behind schedule. Then it hit me, why are we living our lives based on the schedules some random people made up for us? I refuse to live my life by a timeline that isn't right for me.

It's a huge struggle in today's society. It all starts out the day you're born. Your parents proceed to raise you, but worry if you're not crawling, walking, or talking at the same time that the next door neighbor did. If you don't reach those standards at that time people start to assume there is something wrong with you. You go to kindergarten at age 5, if you go at age 4 it's considered impressive, but if you go at age 6 you're considered a little "slow". You have to make it through the next 13 years of your life trying as hard as you can to learn all of the material in every single class at the pace that everyone else thinks you should work at. If you don't succeed you're considered a failure and you're held back a year or two. When you finally graduate, preferably at age 17 or 18, you're expected to go straight to college. No time off. If you take a year off, or decide not to go, you're considered "not as bright as the average American". Once you get into college you need to learn to keep up with everyone else your age, or better yet, excel right past them. Graduate when you're 21, and then go to grad school. It doesn't stop after grad school though, now you're fighting to climb your way to the top, you should get promoted when others do or you're bad at your job. You should save up so much money by the time you're a certain age or else you're a failure. You should retire by a certain age or else you didn't make smart decisions. Everything is based on a very tight and strict schedule, and if you can't achieve it then you're just not that bright. Well I say enough is enough.

If you have to take classes over and over again to achieve the grades you want, take your time. You need to go at your pace. If you need to take a year or five off to figure out your life, good for you. If you have to work longer before retirement because you were a single mother who struggled to save money because the father didn't do his part,well congratulations on being a GREAT mother. If you never thought college was possible until age 30, I am proud of you for going even if you didn't start at 18. I think it's about time we start celebrating the fact that not everyone is on the same time frame. We don't all live the same lives. We shouldn't feel like failures just because we didn't play by society's rules. It's your life, and you are allowed to go at whatever pace you want. No matter where you are at in life, I am proud of you. I am proud of your for trying your hardest, and giving it your all. Don't ever be afraid to pursue your dream because you think your window of opportunity is gone. Life is what YOU make it, WHEN you decide to make it. Always remember that, and never feel like you've fallen behind and you should be embarrassed or ashamed. Just keep pushing, and keep moving forward.

XOXO,

Kirby Madyson