I now have the experience of being a 20-something. If that experience includes knowing how to walk the correct way in a pair of heels (a life skill everyone should know). The first year of being a 20-something wasn't that bad.
I'm that person who is never excited for their birthday. I honestly dread it. I hate having all the attention on me and feel uncomfortable with it. I didn't care about turning 19 and I was scared to turn 20. My 20th birthday was quite possibly the weirdest day and night ever. That semester I didn't have classes on Fridays so I woke up late after going to a concert the night before and caught up on "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver" all afternoon. I met up with a friend to hang out and then I had to cover an event for the college newspaper that night. I dressed up in my finest sparkly pink dress from Forever21 and went to report on the finest of my college at the year-end awards ceremony. And after I went clubbing and spent $80 on Uber (along with a bunch of other 20-something nonsense).
Now that I'm a 20-something everyone wants to set me up with their single guy friend. Now that I'm no longer a teenager, a girl in her twenties MUST be in a relationship. No that I'm a 20-something I have to change everything I learned before I turned 20. No more eating garbage food and staying up late to binge-watch shows. I should be dieting and going out every night (how can those two coexist?).
Change happens everyday, every minute, every second. You might not notice the change at first but in the long run it's truly amazing. Every year is different. I went to different concerts, crushed on different boys, and likely wore different clothes. Every year of my twenties will be different. Age 29 will surely be celebrated different than 21 was. What was I thinking about 365 days ago? Was I going through another existential crisis? What was my homework? What was my favorite song?
I love the way a room is when everyone's drinking and dancing and smiling and laughing and celebrating life in general. I'll never be this young again and I'll never live this close to my friends again so I'm taking advantage of every second and moment I can. I love to capture moments, in photographs, in looks across the dance floor, all of it.
My 21st birthday was on Sunday. It was celebrated a little different than my 20th and I'm not complaining. I was honestly wilder on my 20th birthday but I did more on my 21st. Another year wiser maybe. My Uber driver was named Grace and she's one of my closest friends. I dressed up a bit classier than a pink sparkly dress from Forever21 (even if I was actually wearing a Patriots snapback at one point) and loved every second of the evening.
I am 21 now. That means I have 21 years of life experience. That's 21 years of living life, putting up with other people's shit, having terrible haircuts, going to concerts, and the next 21 years will be for the same exact things. I have 21 years behind me and so many more ahead of me. I'm doing okay. I'm feeling okay. I will likely fuck up and feel hopeless and it likely won't matter another year from now. I'm entering year 21 a more confident, self-loving, person than I have ever been. It might have taken me 21 years to get here....but I'm here.