Your 21st birthday is probably one of the most anticipated days of your young adult life. Sure, turning 18 is cool for about a second, you’re technically an adult now! However, the only right of passage it really gives you is to vote, sign your own legal documents, join the armed forces and buy tobacco (but don’t buy tobacco, that’s gross.)
Being the youngest of all my friends back home in Colorado, my 21st birthday was more than anticipated. Since I was 19, all I heard was “You need to turn 21!” ,“Why aren’t you 21??”, and on and on it went. I would feel so self conscious when I went to concerts and clubs and had the dreaded X’s on my hands. I used to complain to my friends, “It’s not even about drinking, I just don’t want these X’s on my hands!” I always felt like everyone there was judging me and looked at me like I was a baby (which totally isn’t true, that’s our own mind playing tricks on us.) I counted down the months, the weeks and the days and finally…
It happened! The bells of my 21st birthday rang and rang! I was so excited to finally feel like an adult. But I won’t lie, the first time I was asked to hand over my ID I had a giant pit in my stomach. I was about to step inside a bar that I was never able to step into before. I was old enough to not only go inside, but have a drink. It was an incredible feeling but being the youngest for so long… It was odd clinking glasses with my best friends but at the same time it felt totally normal. That’s the weird part. It’s a mixture of feeling like you’re doing something you’re not supposed to but feeling like you’ve been old enough to do this forever.
As weird as it is for the day to come (when you absolutely thought it never would)-It’s fantastic. However, never forget to be safe and never forget to enjoy life (regardless of whether or not you’re 21!)