It seems like just yesterday I was a little kid, waiting for the day to finally turn 18, go to college, and have all the freedom I wanted. I was definitely reminded of this when I was babysitting an eight-year-old girl last week, who said to me, “I can't wait until I am your age so I can eat all the ice cream I want." Little does she know, there is much more to being an adult than just being to do anything you want. Hypothetically, I suppose I could eat the whole tub of ice cream, but without the metabolism of an eight-year-old child, can I really eat the whole tub of ice cream?
Let's backtrack, since when did being 18 mean you are an adult? Maybe I'm just avoiding my responsibilities, but if I'm still filing my taxes under my parents' names, I'm going to consider myself a kid until I get a job in the “real world." Speaking of which, here's a list of reasons why being a so-called "adult" sucks:
1. Filing Taxes
I'm going to be completely honest: I have no idea how to file taxes, and I still ask my dad to do them for me. This is definitely part of my plan to avoid adulthood for as long as possible. Or at least those adult responsibilities.
2. Paying Bills
Rent, electricity, cable, Internet, college tuition, and water bills — you name it. First of all, do I even have enough money to pay for all of these? Also, why can't utilities bills all be combined into one instead of having a separate bill for everything? That just makes for more paperwork, and frankly, I'm sure mother nature would thank us if there were less paper involved.
3. Cooking
Admittedly, this is pretty exciting when you first start out. Cooking your own food means that you get to decide what you want to eat and when you want to eat it. The downsides: this means you have to buy your own groceries, learn how to cook, and have to take time out of each day to make semi-nutritious and decent tasting meals. It's no wonder ramen and easy-mac make for a staple in college student diets.
4. Buying your own things
You can't ask your mom to buy you that new pair of jeans anymore or any new clothes for that matter. Trust me, I've tried. I recently asked my mom if I could get a pair of shoes, and she was like “sure, great! You can buy them yourself!" And this goes for everything, from clothes to shoes to shampoo to even any furniture you need for your apartment.
5. Working
Obviously, I'm not going to be able to pay for any of the above things if I don't have a job. Now it's all about being able to find a job, go through interview processes, being able to balance work, classes, and maybe a social life if you're lucky.
6. Physical Bodily Problems
By physical bodily problems, I mean anything and everything from your slowing metabolism, stretch marks, and beer belly, to constant fatigue and back pains. Before you know it, you're going to have pre-mature arthritis, and you're only 20 -years-old. Plus, you can't eat everything you used to be able to.
7. School
Despite being an “adult," you're still in school until about 21 or 22 years old. And just when you think you're done with school, nope. Turns out your field of study isn't hiring, so it's time to go back to get your master's degree or even PhD. Even worse, if you're in medical school, you're there until you're 28 years old, and then you have two years of residency before you become a doctor. By that time, you're swimming in so much debt that 99 percent of your income goes towards paying off your student loans.
8. No Idea How to do Anything
Being in your 20s means you're being thrown into all these duties all at once, and you just don't know how to handle it. To be fair, being a young adult can actually be pretty fun, despite all these responsibilities. You're still young, but you have so much freedom to do the things you couldn't do as a child, and as Uncle Ben in "Spiderman" said, “with great power comes great responsibility."
