Learning to be independent can be a hard thing. Most of us grow up with at least one person who is always looking out for us and wants what's best for us. As we grow up, we realize that person or those people slowly let go, which can be a super scary thing. But learning how to do things on your own and be your own individual can be an amazing experience and help you go so far in life.

Growing up I was fortunate enough to have both my parents taking care of me. They were amazing parents and I love them for how they raised me. Coming to college and seeing how tough it is for some people to adjust to this new crazy life of independence made me so thankful that my parents did what they did. See, I always thought they were so tough on me and making me get a job at 16 and pay for my own gas and pay for the all the things I wanted while they took care of the things I needed was so evil of them. All my friends got to do what they wanted and their parents paid for everything while they had no job. I spent my Friday nights at work instead of hanging with my friends. I thought it was so unfair that they could do this to me and that they weren't letting me just be a teenager. Looking back now, I thank them every day for teaching me these lessons.

As I watch kids in college who have their parents still paying for everything, casually giving them money for whatever they want, I feel bad. I was taught to be careful with my money and not take any of it for granted. I now pay for everything I want as well as need. Paying for my tuition, housing, food, sorority dues and all the other everyday expenses has made me thankful. Yeah, it sucks sometimes and sometimes I feel completely abandoned by my parents, but I know they are helping me in the long run as they always had been.

I learned how to respect money. I learned how to do things on my own. I learned how to be an individual who doesn't need her parents here for every little thing, yet I know they are a phone call away to help guide me. I take so much pride in knowing that I am mature enough to do things on my own and that my parents have adequately prepared me for this journey called life after you graduate and leave home. Becoming independent and an adult has so many perks but also can be beyond scary, yet is one of the most rewarding things I've been taught in this life. I thank my parents every day for raising me to be an individual who now as an adult can make her own smart choices, mistakes, and learn her own lessons with so much help and support along the way. So even though sometimes we think our parents are being tough on us, we learn valuable lessons about what it's like to live in the real world and how we can be the best adult verson of ourselves because let's be real, becoming an adult isn't easy or fun, but being prepared for it is one of the best gifts a parent can give us.