It’s hard to believe in just a year’s time I have already made my way into the real world. This time last year, I was finishing up my second to last semester in college, and was on the hunt for a job. I look at my friends who are graduating now, and I can’t help but feel a bit of nostalgia for those days.

I find myself looking back on where I was in my life last year. I see where I was physically, vocationally, educationally, emotionally and spiritually, and let me tell you, I really have changed a lot in certain areas and almost none in others. I’m not saying this is a positive or negative observation, just something that’s been going through my head lately.

I realize now how much I miss college. I enjoyed college. I enjoyed going to classes, taking tests, hanging out with my friends on a weekly basis and getting my summers off for the most part. I miss the hustle and bustle of moving into and out of dormitories each year, and I enjoyed being able to take a leisurely stroll around my beautiful college campus. Those were really the “good old days.”

But as the saying goes, “All good things must come to an end.” The real world has truly been an interesting transition. I can’t say I’m surprised or terribly disappointed in it all, though. It’s just the way it has to be once that season of your life is over. So many people, older people who had been out of college for awhile mind you, told me to avoid graduating like the plague. They told me to stretch college out for as long as I possibly could, and they told me the real world was horrible. To them I say: Grow up. Yeah, we all have to do it sometime, and putting it off like that will just make it a lot harder to handle later on. Growing up is just a part of life, and it is essential. Without growing up and moving on, we miss out on so many opportunities.

True, being an adult has its downsides, but it also has many perks.

This time last year, I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do when I grew up, not really realizing that I was already on the precipice of being a grown up.

I feel overall I transitioned into it gracefully. I’ve certainly learned a lot about being considered an adult and what responsibilities come with that title. I definitely have a lot of growing to do still, but I feel like I have a decent beginner’s grasp on how the world works and what part I play in it.