You become a legal adult at the age of 18. However, I feel as if this age is much too young.
Some car renters won't let you rent a car until you are 25, but companies like Hertz let you at 20. But still.
Some states are more strict than others, and if you want to stay at an upscale hotel, you usually have to be at least 21 and in some cases, 25. We all know you can't buy alcohol legally until you are 21, with tobacco products being 18, although some lawmakers are working to make that age 21 too. You can't try to win big until you are 18, which seems young to me, but I couldn't complain about scratching all the tickets I got when I turned 18. The oldest "adult age" I found was under the Affordable Care Act, which allows me to stay under my parents' insurance until I'm 26. Now that seems like a better adult age to me.
The reason I believe 18 to be too young could be perhaps that I am only 20 and still feel and look as if I'm 16. But realistically, I can't see myself being a full-fledged adult anytime soon, despite the fact that I believe I am mature.
From the ages of 19-22, we are typically at a four-year college, striving for a degree to enter the real world one day in a field where we'd prefer to work. As of right now, I plan on continuing to graduate school in hopes of majoring in journalism or communications. (This is not a time to tell me my degree will be worthless or I'll hold a minimum wage job.) So if I take two years for my masters, I'm looking at being done with school at 24 (and that's if I decide to stop at one master's).
Working and paying off my student loans while attending school does not sound like I'm ready to adult. This would mean making enough money to pay the rent, eat and pay off the thousands of dollars of debt I have incurred trying to further my education. Also, life isn't all about the work, so what about the play? I truly do not see this being successful.
But I'm also not saying that I'll live with my mom the rest of my life either. I think that society has made it really hard for new graduates of college to find their way in the world. There is truly no way it is feasible. I cannot imagine being out on my own at 18; I was just graduating from high school where I had my parents to wake me up in the morning and a mom who'd make my bed if I didn't give myself enough time.
When I hear of people saying things along the lines of me possibly having kids and being married within five years, I think they're nuts. I'd like to build my career first, but I'll do it as almost an adult, but not quite. I think I'm in this in-between phase and I'm okay with that. However, society needs to stop telling us to grow up and move out.
