Once a person turns 18 they are considered, by law, a full-fledged adult. By the time 21 years of age rolls around adulthood is well on its way. When I think about it, I don’t consider 18 to be the “adult age”. To me the age should be 20, because once you age starts with a two instead of a one, life takes a huge turn. Turning 20 feels like the weight of the world is truly on your shoulders. This is the point in life when you realize that telling someone your age means you are instantly an adult, this is halfway point for most of people’s college careers, and this is when you have to start make hard decisions. Decisions that stick and truly determine what your path in life will entail. Honestly, nobody has any idea what they are doing once they turn 20. When you turn 20 the thoughts start to appear. Thoughts such as…
I’m halfway through college. What should I major in? Do I want a minor as well, or maybe a double major? I don’t know.
People are going to think I’m an adult now. They’ll think that I have my shit together; but I don’t. God! I don’t want to be judged.
If those thoughts aren’t enough to rattle your brain, you’ll also have your family and closest friends constantly reminding you that you’ve reached the big two zero. Your parents will be the first ones to make the jokes about your life. We all know the jokes I’m talking about.
“Oh so you can start paying your own phone bill, right?”
“Honey! Our child is 20, that means we don’t have to cook for him/her anymore!”
“Time to find your own place. This isn’t a rent free motel anymore.”
Moms and Dads all around the world, please just stop making these jokes. They aren’t funny to us, in fact they give us acute paranoia, and feelings of unstoppable anxiety. Your 20’s become so hard and having other remind you of your sudden hardships isn’t helping. We already have enough on our plate, we don’t want to talk about cleaning it too. As hard as it is to have all this come crashing down on you all at once, you have to remember that age is a number. It can’t dictate what you choose to do. Let’s be honest, the number 21 doesn’t stop younger adults and teens from drinking. No matter the age, you have the freedom and ability to do just about anything you want, can, or need to do.
While it may seem gravity has decided to bear down on you specifically, just know you aren’t alone, and before you hit the big two zero you were doing everything you needed to do. Up until that point age wasn’t that huge of a factor, so don’t make it a deciding factor. Taking life, a day at a time rather than by age, is how you will succeed. You were making it—or not making it—before you turned 20. No matter what, you will still decide to stay the same or make some changes the next day. Don’t overreact because of a number, it really doesn’t mean as much as you may think.
