Whenever you grow older you always look forward to your birthday every year. Who wouldn’t want to celebrate a day, just to themselves? As a kid your mom always throws your parties and you have to invite everyone in your class. I’m sure you have either had, or attended a birthday party at an arcade, bowling alley, skating rink, or even a park. The menu would include any of the following: pizza, hamburgers, hot dogs, soda, juice pops, and of course birthday cake and ice cream. As years went on, you looked forward to your tenth birthday so you could finally be double digits. Once that passed, you reach the big twelve, the pre-teen birthday. This birthday made you feel unstoppable because you knew that the next seven years were going to be held accountable for the best years ever. Turning thirteen had its ups and downs. Being a ‘teenager’ kicked in and so did the attitudes. When you become a teenager you begin to act like an adult and think that you can take on the whole world. Fifteen arises and you’re more worried about who your drivers ed teacher will be, while your parents worry about installing more seat belts in the car for safety. Of course as a fifteen year old you watch “My Super Sweet 16” on MTV and can only imagine what pop star you would have sing at your party. After reality sinks in, you realize the pop star is out of the question and you need to start looking for your first car. Once you get your first set of wheels, you feel completely invincible. Being sixteen means cool car decals, getting a parking spot at school, and being known by what is hanging from your rearview mirror. Seventeen is the year that holds a lot of memories. You strive to be like the girls in the Seventeen magazine and in reality you can’t even walk in heels correctly. Seventeen is the start to senior year, prom, college fairs, first jobs and more. Everyone always looks forward to eighteen because they're ready for the freedom and adult hood. Eighteen means graduation, going off to college, dating, and figuring out how to be responsible. Once you go away from home you realize that adult hood is not what it is pictured like in the tabloids. Bills start rolling in, you skipped cooking class and can only make ramen noodles, and you begin to miss your ‘mommy’. Nineteen is just the age to remind you that you’re still a teenager and it is really just an extra year to get caught up from eighteen.

Being a teenager is something you will always miss and always remember. There is a majority of life events that happen in your teen years, that you can’t get back. Twenties is full of college graduation, big kid jobs, and maybe even buying your own house. Each decade you learn something new, and your teen years will always go with you to help you make better decisions and even better memories in the near future. Goodbye Teens, Hello Twenties!