I’ll be turning 20 in a few short weeks and boy I'm excited. My 20s will be for me. For my passions, my education and my happiness.

I'd be lying if I said the past seven years of being a teen didn't have great moments. But I’m more than ready to say goodbye to those awkward years.

The years that brought music sensations like Justin Bieber (yes, I was a #belieber and I know you were, too). Or Taylor Swift who went from country music’s sweetheart to a pop sensation and had us all wanting to be YouTube pop star. How about Adele who had us all rolling in the deep with her insane vocals. But we also lost some of the world’s greatest in Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston. The years that brought CD mixing with all your fave jams and giving your friends the hottest mixtape they’d ever seen.

The years that gave us some of TV’s best. The "Glee" sensation that sparked huge interest in show choir around the nation and made us fall in love with #Finchel. "Hannah Montana" (my personal favorite) that made me want to have a giant rotating closet behind my normal looking closet so that I could double as a superstar. "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody" that came in handy when I took my drivers test and I knew what PRNDL stood for. "Wizards of Waverly Place" that still has the funky junky hat song stuck in my head five years later.

The years that gave me my best friend. The one who listened to me cry on the phone for 20 minutes when I experienced my first family death. The one who hugged me and took me for some retail therapy when I had my first heartbreak. The one who stood beside me on graduation day. The one who still talked to me when I wore neon skinny jeans and graphic tees from Hollister and Abercrombie that made me look like a walking billboard. The one who cried with me in a parking lot as we said our goodbyes on freshman move-in day. The one who is still my go-to for anything and everything.

The years that brought the "Twilight" series and an obsession with Taylor Lautner. That brought an end to "Harry Potter" and a new beginning for "Star Wars." The years that brought back our childhood with "Finding Dory" and "Monsters University."

The years that brought awkward first boyfriends, first kisses, and first dates. The smell of Axe body spray that suffocated everyone in the room, but you know us girls found it attractive. The stage of wearing his sweatshirt and not giving it back until it doesn't smell like him anymore. Going to the mall or to the movies with your parents which turned into going on group dates which turned into your first real dinner date without parents or anyone else around. Prom and Sadie’s and Homecoming proposals were just as important as that term paper due in two weeks.

The years that introduced the world to terrorists and school shootings became all the more real when you watched it on TV in your classroom. That brought about political unrest and the constant fear that World War III would happen with the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. The years that brought about equality and the right for love.

The years that brought fads like Webkinz (I had 40-some) and trying to fit as many silly bands on your arms as you could without cutting off your circulation. Lip Smackers were all the rage until EOS balls came out. Selfie sticks were dorky but yet still so cool (until Disney banned them in theme parks.)

The years that we couldn't wait to be on the computer so we could get to our AOL IM app to talk to your friends you'd seen 30 minutes ago before you left school. But then you were finally old enough to have a phone, so you got a Razor flip phone complete with unlimited texting.

The years that brought us some interesting dance move. The Harlem Shake was the coolest thing and you probably tried it with all your friends (my homeroom attempted, but failed.) Then came twerking when Miley Cyrus fell off the Disney wagon. Then, of course, the whip and nay-nay.

So thank you, teens. Thank you for making me the person I am today. I’ll miss you, but I know you’ve prepared me to step into my twenties.

Don’t let the door hit you on your way out.

Xoxo