I think it’s safe to say that most of us entered college with the next four or five years of our lives planned out for us. Whether it involved graduating and heading to graduate school, traveling or finding a job, many of us at least had some kind of idea as to where we hoped to be. I know I did.

But, what happens when you find a short cut or life throws you a curve ball? Say that you were planning to travel the world for a year after graduation, but then you get offered your dream job?

I recently found out that I only need five more classes to graduate—meaning that I am finished with college an entire semester before I had planned. While this great news financially, it does not exactly factor into the plan I made for the next two years.

Of course, I spent a solid two days stressing out. I plotted ways to stretch out my schedule and stay at school. In the end, I realized that graduating early makes the most sense.

I can remember coming to college and being so excited to get out into the real world and start living my life. But, now that the opportunity is finally here, I don’t feel ready. But, sometimes I think we are defined by the split-second decisions that we make, how we react when a curve ball comes our way.

Hard work really does pay off in the end.