Something happened this past week that I absolutely have to address. Something so earth-shattering and life-altering that I had to send many a "I'm in crisis" texts at 3 in the morning.

My hair, once so blonde and shiny that hairdressers wouldn't believe me when I told them it was my natural color, started turning brown. I'm talking noticeable streaks of brown in a formerly all-blonde braid.

This not-so-subtle alteration in my appearance served as a wake-up call to my mortality. Honestly, I like getting older. I know I'm still a baby in the eyes of people that are older than me, but being 20-years-old is a lot different than being 16-years-old. I like the feeling of getting older and wiser and gaining more experience, transcending some of the nonsense and first times that come with being a teenager.

But brown hair? Really?

Here are 10 changes I'm becoming painfully aware of the further I get in this thing called life.

1. Yes, my hair is turning brown

Like, are we serious? Who's hair turns brown when they're 20? Yeah, people go gray—and that's hardcore af—but brown? Why did no one warn me that this would happen? How long do I have left until it's all brown? I don't know how to be a brunette? Someone send help.

2. I can literally feel it in my arm when it's going to rain

I fell down the stairs and broke my arm about a year ago and it was a crazy thing to hear that my arm would pretty much never be in perfect condition again. I can use it and everything and I really only feel it when I'm carrying something heavy (or it's going to rain), but the idea that that bone will never be the same and is just like that forever is kind of wild. Did you know it's not a myth that people can feel it in their bones when it's going to rain? As soon as the air gets wet, my arm aches. Sigh.

3. I'm comparing my adolescence to that of kids nowadays and girl...

This one is kind of unusual because I feel like the meme is typically that kids nowadays are a lot more wild than we were. And while that's probably generally true, what I find myself more surprised by is how much different, and in some ways more innocent, kids are compared to how my friends and I were in high school. I'm surrounded by teenagers spending their summer at a university doing research and all I can think is what I was doing the summer before my senior year. Certainly nothing in a lab.

4. I can't pull all-nighters without some weird out-of-body nonsense

I can still do them when the need arises, but not without that sudden shift where you start to feel like you're watching yourself move and talk from above. If I'm gonna pull an all-nighter now, I have to prepare for some very unusual thoughts and feelings the next day.

5. Wait, heartburn is like, a real thing?

You always see those ads on TV for heartburn relief but you never really think it's gonna be a part of your daily life. I guess I can't eat mac and cheese at 2 in the morning and then wake up at 7 feeling fine anymore.

6. I'm getting a little bit meaner

This is a big one. I'm one of those people that genuinely believes that most people are good and the world is a beautiful place. But some people... really make me wonder sometimes. I have zero tolerance for rudeness and a straight up disregard for other people. And now that I'm older and don't have to worry as much about everyone liking me all the time, I can call people out on their general douchebaggery. It's a beautiful thing. I've earned it.

7. I can sleep for 12 hours and still look tired AF

I have super deep set eyes and dark under eye circles naturally and no, there's nothing I can do to change it. I'm fine with it. But I can pretty much count on always looking exhausted (and sometimes even sick) even if I'm perfectly fine and well rested.

8. My eyes straight up don't work

Now I don't know that I can blame all of this on getting old considering the fact that I've needed glasses for literally everything since I was in the second grade, but still, age certainly isn't helping anything. And I can pretty much forget the days of falling asleep with my contacts in and having it be no big deal. Now if I do that my eyes need an entire week of recovery after the fact.

9. The mom gene grows exponentially with every year

Are you drinking enough water? Did you eat today? Are you sleeping? Do you need medicine? It could get chilly out, bring a jacket.

10. I'm sorry, but can we revisit the fact that MY HAIR IS TURNING BROWN

SINCE WHEN IS THIS A THING?