It is undoubtedly a milestone birthday but to me it’s more than just a number. As I turn 18 years-old this week I can’t help but think of one of my favorite essays "The Opposite of Loneliness" by Marina Keegan. Keegan wrote the essay for the graduation issue of the Yale Daily News in 2012 and while I’m not graduating from Yale, I can relate to her message of possibility, wonder for the future and desire to embrace the uncertain.

When I think of turning 18 years-old, Keegan’s words jump out in my mind “We’re so young. We’re so young. … We have so much time.” And that’s exactly how I feel right now. At 18 there’s a world to be explored, there’s time to learn about everything and anything, and plenty of time to start over and over.

Being 18 is more than just the age when you’re allowed to play the lottery, go vote or be considered a legal adult. It’s the age where it’s acceptable to not know what you’re doing, as long as you’re doing something. 18 is the age that encourages you to try new things and will forgive you for changing your mind a thousand times.

And maybe more than all those possibilities, experiences and dreams, we’re going to have our struggles too. As Keegan summarized “Our private insecurities follow us and will always follow us” so it’s important to remember we all deal with them. I like to think that at 18 we all don’t know what path we’re taking, and we all worry that we messed up a step behind or will mess up ahead. But this uncertainty is all a part of a bigger plan to help us figure out what really matters to us.

All in all, I couldn’t be happier to turn 18 years-old. I may not always know what I’m doing during these next few years, but I made a promise to myself to enjoy the adventure. And I’m thankful to Marina Keegan’s “Opposite of Loneliness” for reminding me that “We MUST not lose this sense of possibility because in the end, it’s all we have.”