There are nights I have stayed up worrying, about my grades and what the hell someone is supposed to do with a Global Politics degree, that I had wished I could forget it all with some cheap beer at a frat party. After an entire 2.5 seconds of reflection, I realize that college is indeed a great time but not the apex of my life. Living off my parent’s dollar with the freedom as if I don’t is great, but I don’t want to peak surrounded by dining hall food, warm beer and conceited fraternity boys.

I’m not saying I haven’t done it because I have. I’ve given the whole drunk nights out my best effort, but it’s just not for me. My parents would be ecstatic to know that they are in the back of my head when I say no to the drink that could possibly make me do something I’d regret; less ecstatic to know I was there in the first place, but you get the idea. Why there is an obsession with having the best night you will never remember is beyond me.

When I moved 1,000 miles from home to Arizona State University words cannot express how excited I was to embark on my journey to success. I am an avid adventurer, crazy doer and risk taker but when college came around something changed. I still love all those things, but the fear of failure and the accountability that comes with adulthood kicked in. In my eyes, I didn’t belong at a school notorious for partying. I did not take my education seriously in high school, and by doing so I may have closed some doors. With all of that in mind, I knew there was no way I was going to jeopardize my future by not caring, the way I jeopardized my college choices in high school.

Some would say college is my last chance to live without consequences. I beg to differ. College is my first chance to succeed on my own.