At 16, you can legally drive…

At 18, you can legally vote…

At 21, you can legally drink…

But what is so special about 20? You’re one year away from one of the last birthday milestones in your life. In a way, am I just counting down days until I am 21? At 20, you’re roughly halfway through college and at that point, you are expected to have some clue of what your future holds or what dreams you plan to pursue.

No longer am I a free-spirited, fun-loving teenager, I am an adult. Adults who pay bills, and have real jobs, and well, are responsible.

But is that really all that our 20s consist of? Responsibility and the “real world"?

Well that can’t be it, can it? What if I am not ready to settle down and become a real adult? These are reasons why I hate birthdays, because on that day all I catch myself thinking is how fast I am growing up and how I will never be ready to be a "real adult".

But in all honesty, what has changed from our fun-loving teenager days to our 20s? What stigma is forcing us to become responsible adults by the time we hit 20?

In my opinion, once we hit 20, people expect us to settle down, create plans and start becoming functioning members of society. However, underneath all of that “adultness” is still the fun-loving teenager I strive to be. What’s wrong with that? With a new decade beginning, a whole new set of memories, laughs, smiles and love is brought forth along with pain, heartbreak, and obstacles.

So instead of being resentful about birthdays and starting a new decade, why not infuse excitement and hope with what the future bestows for us. After all, with a new decade comes new choices to be made and mistakes to be remembered. Turning 20 should not mean retiring the nights that we stayed up until 3 a.m. or the days we called in sick to work. Just because another year goes by does not mean I am any more mature than I was before, or any less of a hot-headed dramatic teenager. Twenty is just a number, a record, a means of accounting. But by no means does 20 defines who I am or where I am supposed to be in life.

So instead of thinking of birthdays as a means to reminisce on the past, turning 20 means living in the present, it does not mean counting down the days until we turn 21, it does not mean thinking that we should have majors picked or internships achieved. It's just another year, another year to experience joy, pain and love. Another year to create friendships, share laughs, and stay up until 3 a.m. with your best friends on a Friday night or call in sick to work the next day.

Getting older isn't about regretting the years past and missed opportunities, instead, it's about perspective, it is appreciating all that we have we learned and experiences we have grown from. And instead of fretting about the future, it's looking forward with hope, excitement, and sharing these moments with the loved ones we surround ourselves with.

Why do I refuse to say I am 20, you may ask? Not because I regret getting older, but because I refuse to let a number define my existence. I may not have many awards, trips, experiences to brag about in the 20 years I have been alive so far; however, I have an amazing group of best friends, a loving and supportive family, and I have 20 years of memories, laughs, and smiles with all of these wonderful people. I cannot wait to see what the future brings. And who knows, maybe I will never be ready to become a "real adult"!