I’m the baby of my friend group, but after this week, that’ll all change.

For the last 16 years of schooling I have been one of the youngest in my class. Whenever I tell people my age they always look at me and think I’m crazy smart and that I skipped a grade which isn't the case. When I was younger the cutoff for the school district I went to was year to year so I was where I was supposed to be and then I moved and the new cut off was the end of August.

They told me I could stay with my grade and it’s been a blessing and a curse ever since.

I’ve heard it all.

From “you're just a baby” to “well this means you'll live longer than us”. Jokes were made because I was 17 when I started college so I had to have my parents sign a permission form to let me live in the dorms. There are actually people in the grade below me who have turned 21 before I have and it blows my mind. Often times people think I am older than I am and they sit there in shock when I tell them the truth.

Being a senior in college, this has affected me in so many ways. I've had multiple people walk up to me and ask me if I was going to mug night or hitting up the bars over the weekend and I have to remind them I won't be joining them until fall break. I haven't been able to participate in many Senior events because most of them involve alcohol, so it hasn't been worth it to me. For the most part my friends have been nice about not rubbing their legality in my face and I am so thankful for that.

Now there have been some perks to being the youngest of all my friends.

I have definitely saved money by not going to the bars all the time like some of my friends have, and for that my bank account thanks me. I have found alternatives to going out and they have arguably been more fun than some of my underclassmen adventures. It’s made me look at the bright side of things, such as when I finally am 21, everyone can go out with me and there isn't anyone waiting in line behind me who can't attend.

After this week I will be 21, and while I am very excited that this seemingly endless wait is finally coming to an end, I have realized that this will be the last year that anyone will care how old I am.

I will be legal to do everything there is out there (except rent a car but whatever) and no one will really question it anymore. It’s like the final step across the fine line between adolescence and adulthood, which is a hard reality check to a lot of people.

However, I am very excited to take my final steps into complete adulthood. I look forward to see where my life goes in the next year and I will not let adulthood scare me. So cheers to senior year, finally turning 21, taking on adulthood, and making memories along the way.