I’ve always been told I’m mature for my age, and I can’t help but agree. A lot of people my age like to party and get drunk, and frankly that’s just not me. I am extroverted most of the time and pretty outgoing; however, the common party scene just is not my style. I spend a lot of my weekends sleeping, going to the movie on campus on Friday nights, getting caught up on homework (or the rare occasion of getting ahead), and just being with friends.

Graduating high school and being out in the world is one of those things that make you grow up real quick… or not (We’ll come back to that later). Being away at college, I am responsible for pretty much every decision I make. My classes are pretty determined since I have such a tight major AND am an Honors student. However, how I schedule them is more or less up to me, as is when I go to bed, when I wake up, what I eat, when I eat, when I do homework, when I hang out with friends, and when I need to go grocery shopping. Obviously, time management is a big responsibility. Another responsibility is deciding what is important. It takes prioritizing. I put my education first, then relationships with those I love, and finally any extra activities I want to do. No, I am not required to do it that way; but I don’t plan on throwing my career away. It is way too important to me.

However, not everyone matures after high school. Some people just can’t seem to let go of the past. They let the same little things bother them. Honestly, it is sad to see 18-year-olds acting like they are 13, but I’ve seen it firsthand.

The responsibilities and consequences of the decisions I make are mine to handle. If I do badly on a test, it is because I did not study enough. If I oversleep and miss a class (accidentally did this last semester), it is on me for not hearing my alarm. My accomplishments and failures both rest on my shoulders.

Making decisions also brings about independence. You learn to do things by yourself because you know you are solely responsible for the decisions you make. I considered myself to be independent before college, but that has only increased since I left. I enjoy doing things for myself. There have been multiple times where something in my room has broken. Thankfully, I have a great toolkit and lots of super glue and duct tape. I don’t mind getting down and dirty to fix what’s broken.

I think independence and maturity is another decision. You have to decide for yourself what you’re going to let affect you. If you choose to let small, unimportant things affect you, then that’s your decision. After high school, I haven’t talked to many of my classmates. It’s not anything against them; I’ve just matured faster and differently. I’ve grown up. There’s nothing really wrong with that, we just grew apart. The decisions you make are the ones you have to live with. Everyone’s decisions are different because their paths are different. Someone may have a different maturity level and may make different decisions based on that. Who are you to question them? Just because you would not have made this decision does not make it a bad one.