After reading this headline, what was the first thing that popped into your mind? Money? Cell phone? Car? A prized piece of jewelry? Sports memorabilia? While all of those are common and important assets to our generation, that is not what I had in mind. We may work all of our lives to obtain objects such as those, but it does not fit the criteria for “most valued asset." Simply put, someone's most valuable asset is his or her time.

Look around you. No matter where you go, someone or something is always trying to take some of your time away from you. While walking through a mall, retail businesses are constantly trying to grab your attention. It is their goal to get you to come into their store, and for you to stay for as long as possible. Walking around on a college campus, different organizations or individuals shout at you, pass you a flyer, or walk besides you to talk to you about something that is important to them. Regardless of where you are or what you are doing, your time is always being spent on something. How many times have you heard a friend graduating college say, “My four years went by in the blink of an eye," or, "I wish I could just have one more year."

As college students, we often forget that our time is invaluable. This is the only time in our lives that we will be able to have this much control over how our time is spent. Don't want to go to class? No one is forcing you. Don't want to write that paper tonight? No one cares. When making a choice between two courses of action, we tend to gravitate to the side that looks more fun. We are always debating how we should spend our time.

Fortunately, we live in a country that prides itself on guaranteeing the most freedom and liberty for every citizen. America's mindset is that one should be allowed to spend his or her time however he or she sees fit, as long as it does not infringe on somebody else's freedom and liberties (shameless political science student, here).

However you want to spend your time, just make sure you spend it doing something you want to spend your most valuable asset on. If that is spending hours scrolling through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Yik Yak, then so be it; however, I don't think years down the road, we will remember anything that we read on these social media websites. We will remember a road trip, a volunteer experience, or internship.

Unfortunately, we as humans are not immortal. Our time on Earth is finite, but that is what makes our time so much more valuable. No one will ever hear someone on their deathbed stating that he or she wished they had spent more time making money or obtaining other material possessions. Instead, it is common to wish that more time had been spent with their children, a significant other, increasing one's knowledge, or helping others.

Whatever it is you choose to spend your time on, think twice, even three times before spending it. Once you spend it, you can never earn it back.