I'm a junior in college, but I'm young for my age. Last week, I just turned twenty. Most of my friends are turning twenty-one, and my oldest friend is twenty-three. I won't turn twenty-one until my senior year of college.

I've always been mature for my age, and the people close to me have been calling me the stereotypical "old soul" for as long as I can remember. When I first started my job at the age of nineteen, over half of my store was convinced that I was twenty-six. Upon finding out, they were shocked that I was so much younger than I acted.

Hanging out at school during free period and stuff, the age gap doesn't really matter. We're all college students, so we all face similar struggles from day to day: homework, exams, falling out with friends, lack of money, all of that and so much more. There's a reason why there are so many suffering college student jokes online.

On top of having these similarities, I'm mature enough to understand what's being talked about and often contribute a lot to conversations that may even seem a little beyond me. I'm able to speak eloquently and thoughtfully. It's pretty much an even playing field, and there are a lot of days when I forget that the age gap even exists.

Like I just said, though, a lot of my friends are turning 21, or already are, and that is seen as this giant milestone in our culture because it means the person is legally able to consume alcohol. Seeing that I've never even snuck a sip of liquor, it's always incredibly uncomfortable to see my friends openly and proudly drinking, especially since I can't take part in the festivities.

I feel left out, and everyone knows that that's a real bummer, especially when you know your friends are having fun and don't want to ruin that good time for them.

In this one aspect, I'm socially sub-par in comparison to everyone around me, and that's stressful. It makes me hate being the youngest.

At the same time, though, I love being the youngest. It's a bigger deal when my birthday rolls around because I'm finally starting to catch up and because birthdays matter a bit more when you're younger. I have less experience, but I can learn from the mistakes that my friends have already made.

So I'm the youngest of my friend group, and that has its ups and downs, just like anything else in life. There may be times where I feel left out or like I don't belong, but these are often outweighed by the times that I feel like I'm perfectly in sync with everyone I'm around. There's give and take, and as long as I'm able to adjust to that and acknowledge how I feel, it's all fine and always will be.