I am a 24-year old college student. It feels good to say it. I’m old which is funny because I don’t feel old. Yet I have begun to hear it from my peers more and more. “Happy birthday! How old are you?” “Ugh I’m 21. I’m old.” If you’re old then I’m old. Geez what have I done with my life.

After high school graduation, I took a year off. I moved to Dallas, partied every night, and worked a part-time job. Not wanting to be stuck in retail forever, I decided to get serious. It wasn’t until I turned 21 that I began pursuing my associates. Like many other students, I attended community college and transferred to MSU last August.  At community college, I never really felt much different than anyone else. Every class was filled with a mix of young and old. Stay-at-home moms continuing their education, high school students in duel credit courses, and people like me. People who didn’t know if college was for them. People who took forever deciding which path was right for them.

There are students older than me, but traditionally college is a younger persons game. You graduate high school, go to college, graduate, and hopefully get a job. For many that’s exactly how life goes. Other people my age already have their Bachelor’s. They are in grad school. Other people are starting families. Life isn’t the same for anyone. That’s what I always try to remember. It is not a race or a competition. The important thing is whether I am proud of what I am doing.

Of course there are times I feel like I fell behind. I should be done already. Panic ensues. It gets worse when I hear my younger peers say it. They’re old and further ahead. What is wrong with me?

Nothing. I made my decision. If I could go back, I wish I would’ve taken my studies more seriously. But I would never trade those memories of youthful ignorance and carefree nights of staying up until 6am. The thought of it now is exhausting. Seriously how did I ever do that?

Savannah Rangel is a mass communication junior.