When I graduated from high school, I had a few dreams in mind: leaving for a big city, making my way as a writer, seeing the world. My friends and I sat back and scoffed at our classmates who chose to attend college close to home (or those who chose not to go at all) in hopes of preserving their serious relationships.

Silly, silly young people. Didn’t anyone ever tell them about priorities?

We can’t be blamed for this line of thought though; we had been conditioned to accept nothing but complete selfishness until we were content that our dreams were achieved.

Truly, we had been taught the only life worth living was one comprised of worldly travels, career pursuits and jetsetting social scenes. And while the movies and television series that many of us grew up on cleverly avoided this by somehow arranging for all the main characters to attend the same university (“Boy Meets World,” “Saved by the Bell”), the rest of us rationalized that true love could only be found in your mid- to late-50s.

Those who chose to settle down earlier were giving up their futures, happiness and a piece of themselves. How na