Being a little kid is probably the best thing in the world. Even though you don't know it at the time, you basically have no responsibility whatsoever, you literally never have homework, and you can play with your friends all day. Being a teenager is still alright. Added responsibility posits more freedom which we crave so badly. What comes after the teens though, a mystical pit of confusion, the awkward stage if you will. The odd 12 months of your life before you can order a drink legally at a bar, what I like to call the awkward stage of being twenty. Inevitable though, being twenty comes with certain characteristics like no other.
1. You can no longer blame things on your parents.
No, now you're just being irresponsible and lazy. You can't yell at your mom for you missing your dentist appointment that she made anyway because you would totally forget. Man, the pre-twenty times were great. Don't want to go somewhere with your friends? Sorry, my mom said no. Don't want to go to school? Mom i really need a sick day. Once the age of twenty is reached, we can no longer make excuses for things blaming it on being a teenager. It's as if our parents have a radar going and once we turn twenty, boom.
2. You can't go to the bars with your twenty-one year old friends.
Unless of course you have a fake then kudos to you, you have a lot more nerve than I do. So basically you can't do anything fun after your friends head down town. Sure, you can walk with them then make the split off for your apartment, but then it's time to go home and do nothing. Practically, the longest 12 months of anyone's life.
3. Partaking in childhood activities is now frowned upon.
Playing in the play land of a McDonald's is now worthy of being kicked out. That goes along with basically anything with a height limit.
4. Your stress is at an all time high.
For most, we are in the junior or beginning senior years of our college careers. That means its make it or break it time. Papers on papers, presentations, other laborious assignments. Dropping out is heavily considered usually during mental breakdowns that happen more than often. We'll make it though, and graduation will come!
5. You feel like you're not making any progress.
Some friends are getting engaged and having children, and some are gone all weekend only to come back to cram for a test in the library Sunday night. Meanwhile, here you are stuck at age twenty not exactly sure where you're going. You're an adult, but not really. Like if you were in a serious situation you would start looking around for someone who looks like your parents as the adult. Kinda the awkward stage.
I have confidence though that we all will make it out of this awkward stage of being twenty years old, and before we know it, bars will be overrated and going to bed early will be in style.
