Entry #10: A Coming of Age

My 21st birthday is coming around in just 2 short months as any American teenager can tell you, it's a big deal in our culture. The thing I'm most excited about isn't being able to drink in restaurants or go to bars though. I'm most excited about not being the only one of my friends not able to go to certain concerts because I'm underage. Besides that fact, the whole "drink until you're obliterated" thing isn't really my cup of tea. I've always been keen on the idea of balance, my family has a slight history of overdoing things and the thought of going down that path keeps me from losing balance.

There's this huge noise around turning 21 nowadays, this expectation for organized disaster. I don't fully understand why people make such a big deal out of it, most of us drank in high school to begin with. So why the huge fuss over continuing doing things we've been doing for years? Despite my skepticism towards the whole "life changing birthday" I'm still excited. I'm excited to not have X's on the back of my hands after I go to a show. I'm excited to not be called a child in my friend group or hear that collective groan when they want to go to a bar and I'm present. I'm excited to have the added freedom of going wherever I like at events and not waiting in the car when the boys want to buy beer for the football game. It's an exciting time in my life that I'm ready to get over with.