Here I am, nineteen and counting down the final month, of my teenage timeline. I never thought I would physically make it to the point, however, there are a lot of things that I will miss, and not miss about being a teenager.

I find difficulty wrapping my head around the idea that I am becoming so old, in such a quick amount of time. I remember graduating high school and singing the national anthem, and here I am, two years later, in the second semester of my freshman year in college at my favorite college thus far, UMass Boston. I never pictured myself as anything other than a biology major, and within the first few months of school, I switched completely to the English department, and will be adding a Creative Writing specialty onto that when I can. I’m not completely sure how I go about doing that, but I’m sure I will figure that out somehow, that’s one of the least of my worries at this current moment.

With this coming birthday, I must bid adieu to my youth, and my innocence. I am no longer a child, and haven’t been for nearly two years, despite my child-like appearance, and disposition towards life.

Firstly, I will be saying goodbye to many of my childhood habits. There will be limited frivolous spending, no daily stop to the Burger King on campus, no more buying books that I will not read, and no more buying stuff because it’s even remotely trendy. Those are just some of the cuts that I am making, but hopefully it all works out.

Secondly, I am saying goodbye to childish language. I am graduating myself to the thesaurus, so words like “good” and “boring” are inconspicuous, and out of view. I am exhausted from the immature language my peers use and will be adopting synonyms from now on.

Thirdly, I will be tougher to people. Now let me explain before this gets revolting. Up until now, I have been almost too kind to people. I catered to the feelings of others, even if it affected me in a negative light. I let people walk all over me and take advantage of my kind nature. This disposition has also gotten me into some problems, because I choose to hang up the phone on a call that’s going nowhere, instead of demanding what I want (in a polite manner obviously). This year, I will dedicate myself to be tougher on those I need to be tougher on, to ensure that I have a learning environment that I will be happy in, with the resources that are going to help me succeed.

I hope that others that are celebrating their birthday, or any day of the year are working on changes to themselves to become better people, not only for themselves, but for others as well.