The other day on the phone with my mother, she asked me how i felt about turning 22 in just a couple weeks. It had quite honestly slipped my mind that my birthday was even coming up, which is completely and totally unlike me. Anyone who knows me knows that I am and always have been the person who hypes up birthdays for everyone else, and usually myself as well. I realized then that I had mixed feelings about turning 22.

Of course, I was absolutely floored about my birthday last year. 21 meant a new kind of freedom, and that freedom meant the whole world to me. It's hard to believe it was already a year ago, but like they say, time flies. Now I am bar-hoppin' and flashin' my ID like it's nobody's business. Wanna see my ID? Totally have it.

Everybody has told me that it all goes downhill from here, and that birthdays don't really matter after 21, but I call BS. Everyone should celebrate their day of birth, every year. We should all learn to celebrate ourselves and how far we've come, and start our next lap around the sun on a high note. There's no such thing as "going downhill" in this context.

I thought that my saying goodbye to my childhood happened last year when I turned 21, but I have come to the realization that it is in fact this year that I bid those years farewell. To me, 22 means my true entry into the adult world. In the mind of this optimistic and hopeful young adult, entry into the adult world means new responsibilities, but also new opportunities. New opportunities to learn, travel, grow, and succeed. God knows I am going to keep this optimistic and hopeful attitude 'til the end of my days.

I have been thinking a lot about what my 23rd lap around the sun could bring, and that is a lot of change, but also a lot of excitement and possibility. I am graduating college, and thus starting a new chapter in my life. This is probably the first time in my life that I have absolutely no clue where I will be a year from now. While that's frightening, it is also incredibly thrilling. This next year has so much potential, and I am going to seek every last bit of it out.

Not to mention I think it is a sign from God that my favorite lady, Taylor Swift, has a song titled "22". (It is an absolute bop; I suggest you take a listen.) Cheers to 22.