The 21st birthday. It's the one almost all college students can't wait for and for good reasons; turning 21 automatically lifts all the restrictions placed upon a person- (Except for renting a car in certain states but that is beside the point.) You are a fully fledged adult now! You can drink alcohol and gamble to your heart's content.

I recently turned 21 and it was very exciting to be able to go into the liquor store and being able to buy something or being able to throw some chips down on the roulette table like I had any inclination of what I was doing. I am also looking forward to being able to go out with older friends, not because I am big on drinking but for the experience and the fun of it. There is the little thrill of being asked for your ID and being accepted into this new society of living. Additionally, there is the disappointment of not being carded because you want to show off to the world that you are, in fact, 21.

But even with all the exciting aspects of this monumental coming of age, turning 21 actually makes you think a little, or at least it did for me.

On a somewhat superficial subject, this was my last "fun" birthday.

I am officially a twenty-something. When you are a teenager, there were the big milestone birthdays - like becoming an official teenager at 13, the Sweet 16 and becoming a real-able-to-vote-in-elections adult. Now what? Have I reached the age in which I start to dread getting older? Taylor Swift may claim that 22 is a pretty cool age to be as well, however.

It also is a serious wake-up call, I will be entering the real world, needing to find a paying job and leaving the world of college behind. I'm not alone in saying that it is frightening, not having my future lined up like the classes I have planned for next semester. I still am not exactly sure which career field I am going to end up pursing! So in my little early-life crisis, my whole life started speeding faster until it seemed like my graduation day was next week, which is when I realized, I still had time.

I have another year and a half before I graduate, which will be a huge milestone - perhaps 22 will be pretty cool too! And after that, I have turned 25 and 30 and 32 and every year in between to look forward to. I am not sure exactly what I will be doing or where I will be on my 28th birthday and I realized, however, that it doesn't matter. Because right now, I am 21 and this will be a year of fun and adventures and maybe drinking a little too much. But hey, I'm still in college!