The day I received my "Class of 2017" shirt in the fifth grade, I thought to myself "Wow that is so far away." But it wasn't. It is here. It is happening. This semester has been a whirlwind of college applications, senior research deadlines, play practices, and newspaper edits. However, I have been thinking about a particular adage my English teacher told me in class, "Life should be authentic." I never knew what that meant until this year. I no longer participate in the act of, "hurrying up to just get by." No, I am learning to enjoy the moments that make me the happiest; the authentic moments.

"Authentic" means from the source or origin. The truth is that we have all had moments of not being authentic. It can be difficult to maintain authenticity in uncomfortable or unfamiliar situations. You may worry that your “real” self isn’t good enough or appropriate for the situation at hand, and you fear rejection. So instead of showing up as yourself, you show up as the person you think everyone else will like.

We have lost morals and what it means to be ourselves. So many are caught up in following the crowd they have gotten lost in it. Remember: If you live your life as most people do, you will get what most people get. If you settle, you will get a settled life. If you give yourself your best, every day, your best will give back to you.

We are little individualistic chumans scurrying along from place to place, through different combinations of four walls without much thought. We’re in too much of a hurry, never stopping to truly take in the scene around us. Stop. Breathe. And pay attention to your five senses. What can you see? What can you hear? What can you smell? What can touch? What can you taste?

We all need to practice being more present. More in the moment, because it’s all we really have. That person you just joyfully said, “Hello!” and “How are you doing?” to may be going through the worst of the worst times. Or he or she could be an angel in disguise who could help you in the blink of an eye if you’d just for once look up and realize they are there. We brush people off, but we don’t even realize it because we think that others cannot see through our facade of “niceness.”

See, there’s a difference between being nice and being kind. Nice can be faked, kind cannot. Kind is displayed in your every move, deliberate and subconscious. Before you even open your mouth, people know and understand whom you are more than you might think.

We are guilty of this the most when it comes to building our online persona. When it comes to Instagram, your "theme" can't be tampered with in fear of not gaining the usual amount of likes. Who cares? The likes mean nothing. Instead, log off, go into the world and do something worthwhile.

Don't trade in your authenticity for approval.