My 20th birthday is approaching... rather fast. It's weird to even think that my teenage years are about to be officially over. But regardless, I look forward to my birthday every year. This year will just be weirdly different.

I asked my parents what they thought about me turning the ripe age of twenty.

But this time when I asked, the only thing my dad said was, "you're going to be an adult!" me turning twenty, as it's almost a routine when birthdays roll around in the family. "How do you feel about turning sixty?" I'd ask, to which my Dad would look at me and reply, "Not too much, I'm still working, still young at heart."

Puzzled, I questioned back, "I thought you said eighteen meant I was an adult?"

"Nope," he smiled, "twenty is an adult."

This is the same man that two years ago said that eighteen was the age of true adulthood, so you can imagine my confusion.

At eighteen, you're an adult in the eyes of the law, but I guess not to my own father?

We can get a tattoo, buy a lottery ticket, skydive, and usually at this age we are moving out of the house and onto the campus to see what "real life is like".

Not to mention that we can vote and get married?

No alcohol for me though, not for another year, of course.

At age twenty, not much changes from being eighteen or nineteen.

People's rights don't technically change until the age of twenty-one. You can apply to adopt a child. You can supervise a learner driver (so long as you’ve held a driving licence for the same type of vehicle for three years). And of course, finally get that legal sip of champagne that everyone wants to have on New Years.

But three things reign true with finally entering your twenties...

You can't wait to be told what to do anymore. You are now your own person; you're an "adult"! You can’t have a sense of entitlement without a sense of responsibility. You’ll never get ahead by waiting for someone to tell you what to do. "Saying nobody asked me to do this is a guaranteed recipe for failure."

And with this, you have to start taking responsibility for your mistakes. No more calling mom and dad if you screw up your rent or fail an assignment. (Sidenote: You should be making lots of mistakes! Whether this be in your career, social life, or whatever. You just entered your twenties.) But you shouldn’t be defensive about errors in judgment or execution. Stop trying to justify your F-ups. Grow by embracing the lessons learned from your mistakes, and commit to learning from those experiences.

And of course if it didn't start already; it's time to get your butt kicked by life. This can be working for someone that demands excellence and pushes your limits every day. This will build a solid foundation for your ongoing professional success. And yeah, it's going to suck, but you'll get used to it, and you'll embrace it.

Cheers to adulthood! Sorta.