This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at U Mich chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.
One of my best friends turned 20 last month, and just like every year, I reached for my phone in the morning to wish her a happy birthday. As I typed out the text, “Happy 20th Birthday! Love you long time!” it hit me: My best friend is 20. Twenty! Though it’s only one year removed from the teenage era, it seems like a monumental gap. The thought of this sent me into a sort of spiral. The more I thought about it, the more I realized how many of my friends are nearing 20.
My friends are all growing up. I’m growing up. So fast. Where did the time go? It was just last week that I was celebrating turning 13 and ringing in my teenage years. And now, I’m wishing my best friend a happy 20th birthday, as we live in different cities, far from our hometown.
Being 18, I like to find comfort in that I still have two years until I have to process this milestone. Still, plenty of my hometown friends turn 20 this coming year. Two of my college friends turn 20 this summer. Some of my college friends are already 20. It’s only a matter of time until I join them.
It’s not that I fear the idea of being 20. I’ve heard countless times that your twenties are the most exciting years of your life. The time to figure out what you want to do, where you want to go, and who you want to be. It just feels a little bit surreal. The same kids I went to kindergarten with are moving out of our hometown, going to college, or working full-time. How strange.
But also, how fortunate am I that I get to watch the kids I once watched turn 6 years old, turn 20 years old? The people I started school with and graduated high school with are the same people I get to navigate college and eventually post-grad life with. How lucky am I to have friends who have stuck with me through every stage of life so far? These are friendships that truly stand the test of time, so amidst all of the strangeness, I’m finding lots of gratitude.
It’s just so crazy to me that I’m at this point in my life. It seems like such a sweet spot that I don’t ever want to fade away. It’s the age I always talked about being with my friends in middle school. We imagined turning 18 made you so wise and mature, but I’m still just figuring it out day by day. And I’m okay with that.
I’m excited to keep figuring out my life and who I want to be. I’m excited to keep growing and grow old with the friends I grew up with. I’m excited to meet new people along the way. But if time wanted to move a little slowly, I wouldn’t complain either.
I’m sure the more friends I watch turn 20, the more normal this idea will become to me. And who knows, by the time my 20th birthday comes around, it might not even feel like the giant milestone it does now. But knowing me, I will still make a big deal about it, because that’s what I do.
So here’s to the two more years of my teenage era I have left. May I soak it all up and embrace every piece of it. And here’s to one day turning 20 and feeling the same way I do at 18, or to one day turning 20 and possibly feeling like a completely new person. I guess I’ll let you know what it’s like when I get there.