My fingers trace the vinly table tops

Eyes peeking out over the tops of too big glasses

Sitting in a too big room

The teacher keeps talking

But I can only hear one word

College

And I can’t help but wonder

How is this fair?

It seemed like just yesterday

I was riding bikes through the neigborhood

With the neighborhood kids

Feet pushing hard on against the pedals

All that matters is getting ahead

Riding at the front of our little pack

Now I sit at a stool

I’m not ready for this

But I can’t turn away from my future

All the little ideas

All the dreams I’ve collected throughout the years

Stashing them away until I’m old enough to do something about them

College

Even if I don’t hear anything else the teacher says that word is enough

Telling me that the time to do something is now

I’m at the edge of being old enough

It’s time to think about all those tucked away hopes and dreams

I push my glasses up

Grab my pencil and my ruler

And start working on the engineering lesson that could very easily be the first step on the road to my career

I don’t think I’m ready

But now is the time

I take a deep breath

Steady myself as much as I can

And even if it feels impossible

I face my future and I don’t back down