When we are young being older is always a common want, “I cannot wait until I get older so I can go out” or “I cannot wait until I get older so I do not have to listen to my parents.” However as we are young, we are close minded and do not realize the amount of responsibility that comes with being an adult. We all want the freedom but still want to depend on our parents.
As our favorite age to turn is 18, we all are familiar with the phrases “Oh so you think you’re grown now?” and our response of “Oh yeah, I’m grown, an adult, and I can do what I want.” We believe that having a job and fending for ourselves is bearable until one day our friends are getting ready to go out and we are stuck at work with more than three hours to go before it is time to get off. Welcome to the world of being an adult!
Being an adult comes with many requirements and Destiny’s Child said it best “Bills, Bills, Bills.” As children, we did not seem to recall that our parents paid every essential such as our housing, water, and electricity. The phone that we cannot seem to stop using and most importantly the food we consume is once again paid for by our parents. Before coming to college, most students lived with their parents and did not have jobs, so we did not fully understand the struggle of having to fend for ourselves. In college we have non-consumable food from the café and events that have to be paid for out of our own pockets, and our eyes are opened to the reality that A JOB IS A MUST!
The idea of calling our parents and depending on them becomes slim as each year in college; their want to send us money decreases. The idea of being an adult is cool until we have to make the decision to work and miss the fun events that we once were able to attend freely. As our parents begin to encourage us to get jobs and see the real world for ourselves, most students get part time jobs and learn the work that our parents really do in order to keep their children happy and full. The struggles that our parents constantly complained to us about as children soon become our own struggles after turning the age of 18.
When our older family members tried to warn us about growing up too fast, we simply replied “No I am ready and tired of having to listen to my parents.” But now that we are of age to actually take the responsibilities that we once were so willing to take, we regret not listening to the advice that was given to us. However as we quickly learn at the young age of 18 that being an adult is not cool, we start to slow down. We begin to enjoy our last years of being a teenager and our early twenties. Being an adult isn’t always fun, but being older than 25 is worse! Stop trying to grow up so fast because you are only young once and after that stage of your life is over, it’s gone forever!