Growing up

This seems to happen to me more and more often, I feel old. Now this is rubbish since I am still obviously young, a child, but for some reason I keep finding myself doing adult things. I do not me inappropriate things, but the mature right thing, without guidance from a parent or teacher. The most recent action that made me feel aged was to take the GRE. Only people further in life take those. In actuality I am at the perfect point in life to take these. I am a senior in college, with the desire to continue my education. But see that is where the problem lies: I am a senior in college. When did that happen?

As a child I always was looking for the next big thing to come (usually summer or the weekend) and then I got to highschool and I would look forward to things like a trip to visit family or the holidays. And the big events of life started to happen; I got my licens and I went to prom, then off to college. And for most of my life that is where the imagining stopped. I always just wanted to get to college. Well now I have been here a few years and I only have one left. What then?

This is a problem for me. I took 4 years and many campus tours before settling on the right one for me. This time around I have about 5 months, 4 of which I will be Italy for (YAY!) to figure out what school best fits my personality and career goals. I am at loss as what to do. Most of my friends are a year behind me ( a downside to graduating early). So they have little advice. My advisors are not worth talking to as they have failed me at every point of my education. And my mother only has a limited knowledge of the subject. Since I am so busy trying to prepare for 4 months abroad, I have not had enough to devote to the topic. So for now my mantra is that things will work out. And I am scared to death that they wont. But to everyone else I am trying to look like I have it together, because that is the only choice I have.

If anyone has advice on:

• How to not grow up
• How to pick the right grad school
• How to land free school
• Or how to not go broke in Italy

Please let me know because I could use the advice!