Twenty. The year the word "teen" finally disappears from our age number. The year the word adult now officially defines us, whether you want it to or not. Twenty: a year of extreme responsibility, social pressure, and high expectations from our peers- all mixed together with mistakes and mishaps, successes and triumphs, and a whole spectrum of emotions.
We've hit that age where we are technically no longer teenagers, but in reality are still not quite adults who can consume alcohol legally yet. It is that transition phase where we are starting to become functioning members of society, but at the same time not really there yet. It has come to the point where we can manage to schedule our own job interviews and our LinkedIn profiles and resumes are finally coming together, but we still have to call our moms when we have a bad day or need to schedule a dentist appointment.
Yet, to be honest, being twenty years old feels old as hell. We simultaneously miss our childhood days, but are also ecstatic for our futures and what the years ahead will bring. We feel like time is moving too fast, and there are days when we wish we were seven years old again. Our bodies have pretty much taken to their full adult form, to the disliking of many or the rare liking of some. Our fashion and music preferences have changed dramatically, yet we still enjoy some Blink-182, The Backstreet Boys, or NSYNC from time to time. Our taste buds have adapted to craving coffee at any hour of the day, something we never thought possible when we were young. We find ourselves forgetting to call our parents as much, as the complete sense of independence has finally kicked in.
We have matured greatly in ways where we can accept the bad days for what they are, and learn to appreciate and cherish the good days. We have experienced failures in completely unfamiliar territories- not receiving a phone call back after an interview, having the work put in to prepare for an important exam just not quite be enough, or completely freaking out about plans for the upcoming summer. We never know what our next move will be. We live life just enduring the week- just counting down the days until the weekend, yet still enjoying every single exhilarating day of college life.
We still break down from time to time, and still take failures as the end of the world. But being twenty, we know there is so much life ahead of us because in reality, we are still so young. This is the age where we still compare ourselves to our peers, but use these comparisons in ways to benefit our own lives. We take the successes of others and use them to motivate ourselves to produce our own successes as well. We have finally stopped living completely in the moment, and have started thinking about tomorrow, next month, two years from now. Graduation. Life after college. What age 25 will be like. Marriage. Our own future families. We are finally grasping the importance of the concept of building connections and relationships that could benefit our future job opportunities. We have completely stopped reminiscing on high school days, and the images of life after college swarm our thoughts constantly. Being old enough to go to the bars. Having to present yourself professionally on a daily basis. Actually caring about our outer appearances. Thinking about significant others on more serious levels. The concepts of rent, taxes, mortgages- all somewhat unfamiliar, yet to our dismay, just right around the corner.
Twenty has brought us happiness in more ways than we ever thought imaginable. We finally feel comfortable in our own skin, and are starting to love who we see when we look in the mirror. Twenty is exciting, nerve-racking, emotion-filled, stressful, and some of the most difficult, yet worthwhile days of our lives. Being twenty is the age where it is time to step up- take hold of what we want in life and do everything in our power to pursue it at our best ability. We all must find a way to graduate college, get a job, and earn a solid income, all while maintaining our family life, social lives, and staying healthy overall. Us twenty year olds have a lot of on our plates, which we all ironically are so intrigued and motivated by.
This is an amazing year of life - a single year, 365 days of being twenty-years-old. This year is defined by the transition from being a teenager to the next decade of our twenties, as the first two decades of our lives are officially part of the past. The past two decades have shaped the people we are today, and we cannot be more grateful for the amazing 20 year olds we have all become.
Cheers to the past 20 years, and cheers to the next amazing years to come.
