just celebrated my 20th birthday two weeks ago, and as I sit and reflect about the past two decades, I cannot help but notice one thing: Boy, time seems to be going faster than ever.
When I was younger, I would always hear my grandmother say that time speeds up as you get older.
As a child, I just didn’t see how this was possible. Summers seemed infinite and my entire life stretched before me.
The possibilities of the world were endless, and there was so much about life that I had yet to experience or discover.
At 20 years old, however, I am seeing life much differently. Time seems much more finite, and the importance of taking a moment to just be present becomes clearer with each passing day.
It seems like just yesterday that I was sitting in class as a freshman in high school, scared but excited about where the next four years would take me.
Five years later, as a sophomore in college, my life has taken a much different direction than I would have anticipated at the time.
For the better part of my life, I was convinced that I wanted to be a kindergarten teacher.
I have always loved helping other people learn and understand new concepts and children seem to always take a liking to me.
As I went through high school, though, I found a newer and greater passion: medicine.
As I learned more about the human body and the amazing things it does, I desired instead to be a part of the medical community.
As a physician assistant, I will not only be able to help people when they are sick, but I will also be able to help them learn more about their bodies and how they work.
Despite how quickly time has gone these past 20 years, time seems to work differently in college. It’s weird to think that some of my best friends today are people I barely knew just one year ago.
Connections are made much more easily in this environment. I think this is probably because we’re forced to make these connections in order to survive the college experience.
Without the friends I’ve made this past year, I think I would have succumbed to all of the stress that comes with life as a college student much more quickly.
These friends have been there for me when I am in most need of a shoulder to cry on or when I am celebrating my biggest victories. I find it amazing how quickly genuine connections are fostered in college.
A poet named Leo Christopher once said, “There’s only one thing more precious than our time, and it’s who we spend it with.” As I get older, I find this to be truer and truer with each passing year.
I hope that as time continues to pass me by, more quickly each year, I remember to step back and appreciate all of the people in my life and the meaning they bring to it.

LYDIA FENNESSY
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