Turning 21 years old is supposedly a huge "landmark" day for a person. And I suppose I can understand that, considering all the doors it (legally) opens for a person, such as drinking alcohol, going to nightclubs, hitting the casinos, and so on. For most people, you can finally toss out that fake ID and use your actual one.

But here's the thing: I'm...not exactly most people.

I don't drink a lot of alcohol at all, and when it is, it's usually just a couple of sips of wine and I'm done. Nightclubs are stuffy and claustrophobic and I've never been much for the party atmosphere so you won't find me there, either. I have the worst luck and no money to spend so casinos and I? We don't mesh well together. And I don't have a fake ID, unless you count the one I got in San Antonio a few years back claiming that I'm Demi Lovato.

(That's definitely me, I promise.)

I don't do a lot of the things that most people are dying to go out and do for their 21st birthday. Maybe that's because I don't have that many super close friends, but I'm leaning more towards the fact that I prefer things to be a little more low-key.

Sure, I won't say no if my parents and my friends want to go out to eat and have the restaurant wish me a happy birthday even though I explicitly told them not to do so. But at the end of the day, I'm not really for all of the extravagance others seem to need for their "landmark" birthdays. I didn't need it for turning 13, 16, 18, and I certainly don't need it now.

If there's anything that I'll be celebrating my 21st birthday, it'll be the same thing I've celebrated each birthday - being alive for another year.

Life hasn't been easy, in fact, it's only gotten harder and I have a feeling that it's only going to continue getting harder from here on out. Unfortunately, I'm not a child anymore - haven't been for the last four years now - and I've long since been getting too used to that. I've been getting used to the fact that I need to depend on myself to get things done, that I need to hold myself responsible for many things if I want to succeed.

And if you ask me, I think I'm doing a pretty good job at that. Hopefully, it stays that way.

So happy birthday to me, I say as I continue to struggle my way to finishing my degree. And happy birthday to me I'll continue to say each year as I struggle to navigate my way through life as it goes on.

It's a good life.