The other day I was walking out to my car to drive to school at the college and I realized I wasn’t a kid anymore. For the first time, I really realized I was growing up and, until then, it hadn’t really hit me; I was closer to being an adult than I was to being a kid.

We all grow up, and we all want to. We want to go to school, get a job and have a family. We just can’t wait to complete all of the major goals we have in life. It makes it difficult to enjoy the time you are in right now, whether that be elementary, middle or high school, or however old you are. We are always looking to get to the next part of our lives.

When we are kids, all we want to do is get older so we can be tall enough to go on the big kid rides at the theme parks and go to middle school where the big kids are. After we get to that point, it’s high school, a driver’s license and a job. But we never take the time to enjoy what perks we get at those ages.

When we are in elementary school, we are pretty much carefree, with little homework, few chores and no responsibilities. As we get older, we gain responsibility and lose more and more free time. In middle school, your schedule fills up with six different classes a day and individual homework for each one. In high school, there’s more homework for each class and the stress of how important your grades are comes into play. Each and every test is the end of the world. One “F” and your life is over.

The next big step is getting your license, adding driver’s education to the schedule. After that’s finished and you take the official tests and you have your license, you’re free. Every parent with a teenager knows this feeling; your child no longer depends on you for transportation and can come and go as he or she pleases.

Getting a job is the final major step of our young lives. At this point, not only do we get the personal freedom of having a driver’s license, but we also get the financial freedom to buy the things that we want. Now you have to go to school, go to work and pay taxes. All of your time is taken up by something and the carefree child life is now gone.

Today, the No. 1 goal is to grow up as fast as possible. The question is: Why do we want to do that? Being young and having little to no stress or responsibility is one of the best times in our lives that we cannot get back after we have lost it. Enjoy the time that you have while you have it, before it’s gone.

Always remember this: “Time you enjoyed wasting wasn’t wasted.” — John Lennon.