I was coming home from a trip with some friends when we started reminiscing on the weekend we had, as well as the shenanigans we got into. None of which were very mature and all of which were way too fun. After some self-deprecating jokes about the dumb yet funny things we had done in the last few days, my friend finally said between laughs, "this is why we're meant to be 20." That statement has stuck with me ever since. Now, it could just be me trying to find a way to cope with the stupid things I've done or attempting to blame them on a specific reason, but personally, I think she made an excellent point. While "playing a game of Jenga that results in the loser jumping half naked into 3 feet of snow" is a great reason why we're meant to be 20, there are plenty more.

We're meant to be 20 so we learn that breakfast is an acceptable meal at any time of the day, and 3 AM is quite possibly the best time to consume food. We're meant to be 20 so we can make new friends at a crucial time in our lives; friends that are positive influences who share your values and make you wonder how you ever did life without them. Maybe we're also meant to drop some friends, because this is the time to decide what is best for you and cut negative relationships out of your life. We're meant to be 20 so we can learn, either through heartbreak or horror story, that men are jerks and women are crazy. This may even be a lesson you get to learn more than once! We're meant to be 20 so we learn that patience is a virtue when waiting to be legal and take our first sip of alcohol. Or perhaps we're meant to be 20 so we can disregard the wait to 21 and have some stories to share with our kids one day. We're meant to be 20 to conduct an interesting case study on how long we can make our food last before having to go grocery shopping. Similarly, you're meant to be 20 to see just how many days your wardrobe will last you before needing to do laundry.

The best thing about being 20 is how vastly different everyone's lives are. Some of us are completely financially stable and supporting ourselves, some of us are still dependent on our parents, some of us are becoming parents, and some of us are playing the drinking game "take a shot every time an engagement or pregnancy announcement appears on Facebook." Lucky for me, I have friends who fall into every category. It's exciting to watch friends start a new life with their significant other, or even begin to start a family. And it's also entertaining to watch your friends attempt to find their phone after a night out, or attempt to piece together what happened during said night. Even though we're all at very different points in life, we're all learning valuable life lessons as we try to navigate our way into adulthood.

We're meant to be 20 so we can figure this whole "adulting" thing out. Whether that be learning how to cook for yourself, how to pay rent or pay taxes, maybe open up a credit card, and I'll even give an honorable mention to learning how to do laundry or iron your clothes (yes, I know there are still some out there who don't know how.) You know, all of those things we probably should have learned in high school and never did, but thank god I can tell you the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell! Whether you're attending college right now or not, year 20 can be a lot to handle. Maybe you're working full time, maybe you're a full time student, or maybe you're juggling work and school. Whatever you're doing, keep up the good work. Attempting to figure out what you want to do for the rest of your life is quite the burden to bear. And frankly, it's a lot to ask of us. Jeez, society. Unfortunately, this is that time in our lives when we're supposed to answer that question. What do you want to do? Thankfully, that's why we're meant to be 20. So we can learn about what interests us, what we feel passionately about, and how we want to get involved with it. Likewise, being 20 gives us a chance to find out what we dislike as well. We're meant to be 20 so we can take a class about a new and exciting subject that turns out isn't so exciting at all, or get a job at a hip place that actually makes you want to quit and pull your hair out. We're meant to be 20 so we can step outside of our comfort zones and push the boundaries of it. This is our time to try new things and figure out just what exactly makes us happy. And if we're lucky, we'll be able to keep doing that happy thing for the rest of our lives, whether it's a career, or a hobby, or an activity. For now though, it's nice to just be able to enjoy being 20.