I don’t remember it perfectly, but I do remember most. I remember waking up at promptly 7:30 A.M every morning. I remember happily going into my mom’s room so she could braid my hair for school. I remember her waiting with me at the end of our driveway to get on the big yellow bus that took me to Public School Five every day.
As I got older, my mom no longer waited with me at the bus stop. When I was finally in middle school, I was a big girl. I was able to take the bus on my own, and even walk by myself to school. I had my own phone, my own solid group of friends, and my own life. I was able to go to the mall, movies, and much more without any parents being there. I remember thinking I was so old and mature- then I approached high school.
High school was the best and worst years of every hormonal teenagers life. There were good days, and bad days. Long days, and short days. Happy days, and sad days. I remember being in high school, looking back on my middle school days and laughing that I thought I was old then. Now, being in high school, I thought I was REALLY old. Although my parents were definitely not strict, they were still my parents, and of course they had rules. I didn't understand why my parents didn't let me do certain things in high school, like go to parties if there was not a parent home. I thought they babied me. Now, looking back, I laugh at how I thought I was old. I laugh at the fact that I now understand my parents, and understand why they did not let me do certain things. High school came and went. Before I knew it, I graduated in the blink of an eye.
Now, I was in college. The supposedly greatest four years of every child's life. Yet, once again, college came and went in the blink of an eye. When I started my freshman year, I thought to myself "man am I old!" At the end of my freshman year of college, I looked back at my high school years and laughed. I thought to myself "I thought I was old then?! I'm way older now."
I was now able to do whatever I wanted. I had all the freedom in the world. I grew up a lot quicker realizing I had to make my own choices, and those choices had to be the right ones. I knew a lot of people trailed off in college and went down the wrong paths, and I didn't want to be one of those people.
Now, I am in my last semester of my senior year of college. I sit here and look back and think to myself "where has the time gone?" I think about how old I thought I was in middle school, high school, and the start of my college career, and laugh to myself because I was nowhere near old or grown up.
On the verge of being 22, I think to myself how old I am now as well. I am slowly entering into the next chapter of my life. Although I am nervous, anxious, excited, and much more, I will always have the memories of my childhood in my heart forever. I know this is only the beginning, and I know this is about to be the start of something amazing.
One day, five, ten, even twenty years down the line, I hope to read this and laugh about how I thought I was old at 22 years old. People try to grow up so quickly. Time moves fast, and if you don't stop, appreciate, and enjoy being young while you actually are, your life will flash right before your eyes. Enjoy being young for as long as you possibly can be.
