21 is something that seems so far away when we’re freshman that it’s almost unfathomable. At 18 or 19, we start out on campus as if we have been dropped from the sky, unsure of what or where to go, how to live amongst other people, and how to do our own laundry. Then we find our footing. We grow accustomed to our friends and explore our new freedoms with reckless abandon in the way only the first year of college allows. School seems like home – and adulthood is easy when you’re merely dabbling in responsibility. We think, “Okay, I can adult,” and we begin to want to be older, to taste more freedom. We cringe every time our “poor excuse for a fake” Maryland ID gets denied from the upperclassman bar everyone is enjoying themselves in and we burn with envy while yearning to be older and living in an apartment off campus.
We become so obsessed with trying to speed up time that we forget the right of passage that is our youth. The next thing you know, you’re a few weeks away from being 21, surrounded by deadlines, work, internships, and obligations, wondering who stole all of your time away from you while you army crawl back to Chrysostom Hall crying.
21 years old is full fledged adulthood with responsibilities and that shiny new ID to match and it comes with a throng of setbacks and also opportunities. Even though you can get into the bars and rent a car, you’re fully responsible for your actions. So, yeah. You could potentially go to prison if you fail at life badly enough. The real world is closing in on you, but the uncertainty and surprise about your future can be a beautiful thing.
So remember, whatever stage of college you’re in, regardless of if you’ve just been birthed into collegiate life, if you’re 21 and nearing the graduation mark, cherish every moment and live in the now because, to quote the highly underrated Dr. Seuss, “Sometimes you never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory.”
But seriously…