There is no better way to describe how I felt when I turned 21 than the words from Mr. Nathan Scott in the show that has brought me down life’s long wonderful road, "One Tree Hill."
“It’s the oldest story in the world. One day you’re seventeen and planning for someday. And then, quietly and without you ever really noticing, someday is today. And that someday is yesterday. And that is your life.”
I remember being seventeen. I don’t know if it was from "One Tree Hill" or from Edward Cullen being seventeen forever, thank you Metro Station, but seventeen was made up to be an important year to me. It is the last year of your childhood. Eighteen is the legal age, the threshold for being an adult, but no one ever really feels like one at eighteen. We joke about adulting, but you still are in school; you still have to live with your parents—even listen to them. Nothing really changes.
For that matter, every year we are a year older, but we never feel different once that day has passed. It is the culmination of each day making up the year that is this invisible difference.
At seventeen, I thought by the time I was 21 I would have it all figured out. I can tell you I absolutely do not, but from day 1 to day 150, I have actually felt and seen a difference. I couldn’t wrap my head around this, but eventually, it kind of made sense.
I finally see myself as an adult. When you see yourself as an adult, others will too. Once you are independent, you change on a fundamental level, which really makes this the milestone your grandma has told you it would be.
It’s true, you do not just wake up one day with wrinkles, aches, experience, or maturity. It is the collection of things you have done, people you have met, and the lessons you have learned —the more adverse, the more impact— that form your morals, appreciations, meanings, and reasons for living.
Einstein was rightly a genius, and according to him, insanity is defined as “doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results”.
If you wonder why nothing is different, whether you are 21 or not, simply do something different. Explore a new place. Listen to a new song. Find new hobbies. Talk with different people. Eventually, one day, without really ever noticing, things will change.
Who you are today and who you will be tomorrow are founded on what you did yesterday, a week ago, and a year ago. We are constantly changing. The process defines who we are, and thankfully, we aren’t turning 101 just yet. We have so much time. From the theme song of Wizards of Waverly Place, “everything is not what it seems,” and we are not as old as it may seem, just older. So, have fun, and a big welcome from grandma to twenty fun.
