A big expectation for a lot of people coming into their senior year is turning 18 and becoming an adult. Gaining the ability to vote, to have freedom, to be in charge of your own life— these things all seem like they would be the best things to happen to you in high school, but when it comes to the reality of actually becoming an adult, it becomes sad to see childhood slipping away from us.
“Childhood was something I clung to,” said senior Jasper Covington. “I brought my stuffed animals everywhere with me for the majority of elementary school, hated even the idea of cussing until middle school, and felt like it all got away from me when I started high school. I learned we are the truest versions of ourselves around age five since we’re old enough to have our own ideas but still young enough to not care what people think about us. I don’t think I ever stopped trying to be that level of carefree.”
Senior Phaedra Diacopoulos also recently turned 18.
“While yes my childhood is ‘over’ I don’t think a person really becomes an adult until they are around their late 20s,” said Diacopoulos. “Because, being in your late teens, early 20s is kind of like being in the childhood of being an adult, you’re figuring things out, developing, and learning. It’s just instead of learning to walk, it’s driving. Instead of saving money in a piggy bank it’s managing your own bank account.”
The main thing about becoming an adult is learning, so adjusting to new circumstances is the biggest part of this big change.
“To be honest, not too much has changed. It’s great that I can now legally purchase cough syrup for myself, but I haven’t had to be in that situation yet. It’s hard to think of myself as a real adult when I’m still going to high school and don’t have a steady job or pay taxes,” said senior James Torgerson. “I don’t have significantly more freedom at home, but I feel like I’m going to be tasked with accompanying my sister while she earns her driving hours at some point.”
Even while the big change doesn’t feel very big, becoming an adult is one of the first steps out of high school. After all, taking those baby steps is what makes the gradual transition so hard to comprehend while it’s happening.
“When I first turned 18, I felt completely different: like a huge wave of pressure hit me to fix everything. Being an adult felt so formal and I couldn’t stand the thought of not having my life together. I think not having my license yet really added to that,” said Covington. “There was always something I couldn’t believe I hadn’t achieved yet. With some time, I took the past few years into consideration and realized ‘already 18’ to me was ‘just 18’ to a lot of other people and that ‘having my life together’ doesn’t really have a definition, let alone an age requirement. Although, I’ve noticed I want to give a lot more advice, especially to my younger friends. I don’t know what it is about experiencing 18 birthdays that magically made me think I’m some old sage bestowing wisdom upon the protagonist on the course of their hero’s journey or something.”
Being 18 doesn’t necessarily mean your childhood is behind you. Being an adult doesn’t mean you lose that part of yourself. Exciting things happen when you have a change in your life, so being worried about what can happen isn’t an issue, it’s a human experience.
“I’m really excited to go to college! I want to be able to meet new people and experience new things while also being able to take more classes I enjoy,” said Torgerson. “I’m kind of dreading entering the workforce, though. I really just want to learn and go to school forever, to be honest.”
Even while “becoming an adult” can be jarring, the experience is a learning process.
“As soon as you feel confident in what you know, something new comes along and I think that’s life,” said Diacopoulos.
Do you remember being a child and wishing you could grow up faster? I sure do. Well, it happened. We grew up.
