“Wait, so how are you in this grade?” Cue my facepalm.
This refrain was a constant question I had to deal with throughout my freshman year of college – now my friends just laugh at my bad luck when they talk about turning up for their 21st birthdays. I was born on Sept. 27, 1996, and I’m currently finishing my sophomore year of college at the ripe old age of 19.5.
That’s right. I was a minor for about a month during freshman year. I was that person who had to send all official documents back home to be signed by my mom because I couldn’t legally sign them by myself. I was that person in the friend group who was the “jailbait."
Most states have a birthday cutoff of August or September 1. My home state of New York, however, is one of only three states in the country that allow kids to enter kindergarten if they turn five after September 15, the deadline is December 1. The cutoff in Pennsylvania is September 1, which means some freshmen are actually older than me – that’s been pretty confusing for some people to wrap their heads around. I could have been put in kindergarten for an extra year, but my parents and teachers decided I was advanced enough to continue to first grade.
Being one of the youngest people has some perks like the fact that I’ll graduate and finish school at an earlier point in my life than most of my peers. Additionally, being in the same grade as people who are, in some cases, more than a year older than me has definitely made me mature faster. All of my friends will be able to come out with me on my 21st because they will all be old enough to hit the bars by my birthday.
On the other hand, I sometimes wonder if I would be better at subjects, such as math, if I had been placed in the grade below me. If my brain had more time to mature before learning trig, would I be a math major now? Then, there are the strange scenarios that remind me every so often of how much younger I am than some of my friends. For example, when celebrating their birthdays, I watch them experience milestones like getting their licenses, while I was still too young to get my permit.
Overall, though, having a late birthday is just part of my identity. So, to all my homies out there with summer or fall birthdays who occasionally struggle with feeling a little left out, I just want to say, I feel your pain.
