Start Over?

High school seems like an eternity ago.  Granted it has almost been a decade for me (look at me showing my age lol) but still some things seem like they happened yesterday.  For some high school was the time of their lives.  The star athlete, the head cheerleader and the popular kid all remember high school fondly.    But do those people ever think what HS was like for the loner, the academic or the kid who was constantly picked on?  Personally I hated every second of high school.  The classes were far too easy, the students were beyond immature and I just never felt like I fit in.  So as a consequence I did whatever I could to get out of the place ASAP.  I took all honors classes and then I decided since I had enough credits I would just go ahead and skip my junior year.  OH BOY was that a mistake!  I was 17 years old, a high school graduate and I could not get into a university.  SMH.  If I could do it all over again I sure the hell would.  Going from high school straight to a community college is like being a 5th year senior.  Yes I was in college but at the same time everyone that took the easy road like me was at the same community college.  I was in such a rush to leave HS that I didn't stop to think what it would do to my future.  It took me almost 7 years to realize that I did want a college education.  Now I'm a junior and finally at a university and man, I feel so old!  I know that there are people in their 40's and 50's still in college but I think I'm just upset with myself for procrastinating for so many years.  

I'm not sure if it's the American dream, but isn't a true college experience something that everyone feels they should take part in?  I see these 18 and 19 year old kids walking around on campus and I think to myself "That should have been me."  I never got to go away to school, live in the dorms or join a sorority if I wanted.  I feel like my late teens and early 20's flew past me.  Sometimes I wonder if other people my age or older ever feel this way?  Don't get me wrong, I'm super excited and proud of myself that I did come back to get my degree.  But if I could do it all over again..... YOU BET YOUR ASS I WOULD!