With school just around the corner, this will be the first time ever I won’t be going back to an institution of higher learning.

As a youth, I recall my summers flying by at a feverish pitch. I used to dread seeing back-to-school commercials and back-to-school signs at Walmart.

Despite most of my summers following the monotonous cycle of playing basketball and playing video games, I assuredly preferred that to sitting behind a desk and eating crispy “chicken” sandwiches everyday.

However, the upside to going back to school was getting new clothes and shoes. My mother preferred to do clothes shopping earlier in the summer. However, she refused to allow us to wear our new gear until school started.

But — let’s just say we didn’t always hold up our end of the bargain (sorry Mom!).

When she was away at work, my brother and I would be stunting in our new FUBU shirts and our Nike Air Force Ones.

When I did get past my acute depression as the summers came to a close, my third-most exciting day of the year — besides Christmas and my birthday — was the day before the first day of school.

I would iron my clothes so well they’d look like they came fresh from the cleaners. Then, I would delicately lay them on the back of my desk chair, and I would place my shoes beside the chair legs.

I would gleam with excitement while surveying my outfit. I would role-play with myself as to how my friends would approach me and ask about my outfit.

It was kind of a big deal.

However, there seemed to be a paradigm shift as I matured. In college, instead of dreading going back to school, I was excited, because I would no longer be stuck at home and working retail.

But now, as a college graduate being thrust into the world of “adulting,” back-to-school season no longer pertains to me.

“Don’t grow up too fast,” they said. “Enjoy your youth while you can.”

In retrospect, I should have listened to the advice. My entire life I desperately wanted to be an adult — no curfew, I could eat dessert before my dinner and I could drive.

While all that is cool, growing up with no major responsibilities was even cooler.

So now, as a self-proclaimed OG at the ripe age of 21, I declare to all the students out there, don’t try to run through life, because you might miss something.