From experience, I have learned that 19 going on 20 years old is whack. I have friends who are engaged, pregnant, living alone; and then friends who get blackout drunk every night and sleep it up with randoms. Then I have my parents breathing down my neck saying that I need to straighten up my act and at least try to be a responsible adult. So which way to turn?
You aren't 21 yet, so live it up.
Part of me just isn't ready to let go of my wild teenage years, even if I am almost 20. The way I see it, I have until I am 21 to still be crazy and act young and reckless. Once I hit 21, I'll probably still use the excuse that I am still young, but by then I think I will at least try to maintain a good head on my shoulders and have good reasoning when it comes to being "irresponsible." But until then, I definitely still want to enjoy these young carefree years.
Do what you think is right for you, don't be influenced by others around you.
There's no rush to growing up or staying young, which is made clear by your peers. Take a look at yourself and compare it to other people your age, everyone is kind of all over the place. Life moves each of us at a different pace, so why not just go with the flow? Who cares if people around you are starting to settle down, start a family, and who cares if they are so far from that that you don't think they will ever straighten their life out. When it comes down to it, only you can decide how to act.
Parents want the best for us, so of course they are going to tell us to "grow up."
Despite the fact that 20 is still pretty young, our parents have been there, and they might argue that 20-21 is a stretch of "wilding out." From their experiences too, they may warn us that if we don't buckle down, we will be sorry in the long run. The thing is, they could be right, but we won't know until we experience that for ourselves, so again, you have to decide. And even if you do mess up, you're barely 20, you can fix it! If you choose to let yourself run free and not be tied down to adulthood, your parents will love you regardless and they will still be there if you fall!
Take the midway route, find the happy medium.
Not sure if you want to act like a teenager or an adult yet — why not both, am I right? You can still be a little party animal and get funky at times while still maintaining that "adult life." This is probably the best and easiest route yet. You continue to have responsibilities, but once you get everything you need finished, you can go out with your friends and get silly. The best of both worlds!
Turning 20 is weird, lots of directions to choose from, paths to take. But fear not, it really isn't that overwhelming, and really, all you need to do is sit back, think about it and go from there. No matter what you decide, there's no right or wrong choice. And that's the beauty of it!
