14 Jan 2015 | 5 mins

I liked school, not enough to ever want to go back if could, but the memories, the fun I had and the lessons I learnt during that stage of my life are the things I will always treasure. I wouldn’t change anything about the whole experience, because if I did I wouldn’t be the person I am today.

But one thing I learnt was that school was never just a preparation for the real world, to get me to that day where I would receive a certificate and enter the next phase of my life. No, it was all about the journey.

The times where I’d laugh, the hard lessons that made me cry, all the knowledge I gained–those were the things that were most important, much more so than just finishing school. But for some reason I was just always hanging out for the day where I would be out of there, I couldn’t wait to finish. Now that I have been out of school for two years, I kind of miss it and so I realise that instead of always looking ahead, I should’ve just appreciated what I had in the ‘now’ and enjoyed it while it lasted. Soon, everything you are going through now will all be in the past and you will look back and feel a little ache in your belly as you think to yourself “Where did the time go?”

Now that I'm in university, I am embarking on my quest to get my degree in journalism. While I just want it to all be over, the stress, the assignments and just wanting to be able to start my career, like school, I have to remind myself that it’s the journey that I am on now that I should be focusing on. I won’t ever get to experience the uni life again, and so while it gets hard sometimes, I know that one day I will look back in reflection and most likely only remember all the things I enjoyed about it and I’ll miss these days.

When I finish university, I will have the goal of climbing up the career ladder to reach the level of success I am aiming for. So, I am reminding myself now, before I even get to that stage in my life, to just enjoy the time it takes to reach that big aim. Like a road trip, most of the fun happens on the way to the destination.

It’s important that we stop always looking to the future and the end goal, but instead to just enjoy the process of getting there. There will never be another moment like this and you will never the same person you are at this moment. Appreciate everything that is happening in your life right now and be present. If you’re so focused on tomorrow, you miss out on the beauty of today.