Turning 19 & starting my last year as a teen, what does that even mean in the 21st Century?
Here it is. I’ve lived on Earth for 19 years ( As of July 15th at 9:27am). I’ve lived through 19 circuits around the sun. My birthday always sneaks up on me. I'm never impatiently waiting for it like I am for Christmas or the New Year. The month of July starts, I celebrate my Dad's birthday and birthdays of friends early on, and then all of a sudden, there's mine, and the age that I put onto official documents and profiles changes by 1 without any anticipation, and then it passes just like that. I haven't held a huge birthday party since I was about 7, and I usually prefer a quiet day with a nice dinner and homemade cake with my family (probably because by the time I got to middle school I didn't have enough friends to invite to a 'party'). I didn't have a Sweet 16 bash or go on a lavish vacation to celebrate the day that my mom birthed me and my brother after 9 months. Even expensive gifts make me uncomfortable, as I would much rather save up and buy an item on my wishlist with my own money than have someone else waste theirs on me. Being a twin also meant that I shared the 'special' day with someone else in my house every year as well. It took me almost the entire year being 18 to realize how special turning 18 really was, since when it first happened I didn’t make a big fuss about it. I’ve always felt more mentally mature than my actual age anyways. I believe that most 18 year olds have a lot more maturing and developing to do, not just in their brains, but with relationships, sex, interests, hobbies, etc. The legal drinking and gambling age in the U.S. is 21 (which doesn't mean too much anymore lol ;), a young teen can already start working at around 14-16 (with limited hours of course). The average 18 year old can vote, yes, but still is often under their parents' phone and health insurance plans, and usually have more years of schooling outside of High School to go before entering the real workforce. With so many things either already legal or not legal yet, is 18 really that life-changing anymore, besides the fact that you now risk going to real prison? In my mind, so many around me had also turned 18 and graduated High School and were going to college or enlisting or starting to work, and became "adults", so why celebrate or reward myself for something pretty mundane? Well now, with only one year left of my teens, my mindset has changed.
First of all, My 19th Birthday inspired me to think about things I did get to do while I was 18. Here are just a few:
Some Things I did this past year since my 18th birthday:
I started my freshman year of college in my favorite city, the first time living away from home
I finally started taking real college courses in my field of interest (not just summer programs)
I met new best friends that will hopefully be life-long
I started cooking and baking more than ever, loving being in the kitchen, working to perfect my bread recipe
I restarted my blog and photography website!
I worked two summer jobs (this year and last year), one being for a major retail brand that I love
I became a College Fashionista
I wrote for and photographed for my campus's Fashion and Lifestyle magazine
I became an Executive Board member of my campus's field hockey club
I left my on-campus college life on March 9, 2020, not yet knowing that my Freshman Spring semester would not resume in person, but finish at home in my bedroom on my laptop
I took a summer college course that fulfilled not one but two general education requirements (gettin ahead of the game, yo)
I treasured the time I have with my grandparents after quarantine, who needed me to bring then groceries during this pandemic.
I got my first corporate retail job at American Eagle Outfitters, a brand I hope to work with in the future
For so long I saw celerities and influencers, much like my older cousins, as distant, much older figures in the public arena, with no similarities to me , and with jobs and capabilities I would have to wait for years to gain myself. However, I am a part of the generation that grew up proportionally with the technological advancements of the centuries, with every iPhone and social network established before our eyes. We downloaded Snapchat and Instagram and Youtube within the early years of their creation, and are a core audience for those who create on such platforms, eventually becoming to creators ourselves. The amount of 18, 19, and 20 year olds today making a huge name for themselves in the entertainment and media industries just shows how you are never too young to start your career and work with idols that are decades older. Sometimes their claim to fame isn't perfectly in line with their goals in life, but if they play their cards right with their initial 15 minutes of fame, these younger stars can go anywhere.
The younger generation has a better grasp of these new social networks, and are gaining content-inspiration from older public figures as well, despite our statistically declining attention spans. Nevertheless, new trends are coming to play by us, the 18 year olds. Young models, make-up gurus, musicians, artists, and more just need an Instagram or Youtube or TikTok account and a camera on their phone to share their passions with the world, with any and all eyes of them. With the world at my fingertips, I don't have to wait to be out of college with a degree in Communications or Fashion or Marketing and out of my parents' house to connect with others across the world and build a strong professional foundation for my present and my future.
I was 15 during the 2016 Presidential election, and the very thought of being able to vote some day seemed so far away. The result of the election, and other events of the past decade, has obviously been the most worrying and controversial of my lifetime at least, and even though I am living the horrible reality of the times, I still feel bad for the students of the future who have to read this in a textbook. Racial and gender inequality is still an issue, the environment is suffering at our own hands, and political parties are too obsessed with "winning" the argument or competition to efficiently create answers to our issues. Obviously I watched and read the news as a 15 year old, and listened to discussions at the dinner table, but I didn't make enough effort to educate myself on all that was going on to make my own thoughtful, coherent opinion on any of it at age 15. Although I'm ashamed to say it, I had to turn 18 and become eligible to vote for my brain to say "hey, maybe you should start caring a little more about your future and see what issues you are most passionate about discussing and solving and voting for. I always heard the saying "you are never too young to make change," but that fact that with just one Birthday I was now able to utilize my right as an American citizen, to have some semblance of a voice in our "democracy" as we know it, was incredibly powerful to me. This doesn't mean that now as a 19 year old I am going to insert myself into every political debate I come across. I am still weary of heated confrontation and prefer more open, less aggressive discussions with peers of multiple perspectives, not just super right-wing and super-liberal. I see benefits and drawbacks to both political parties, and wish millions of Americans didn't have to be at each other's throats because of it. That's not how things get done.
On another, less political and more philosophical note, I realize that any age, no matter how monumental it is by society's standards, is a marker that I have survived another year, and should be grateful enough for that feat alone. I may have gone through my own hardships, injuries, breakups, failed tests, anxieties, losses, and sunburns, but I still had my overall health and life to live another day. I still had some friends who stuck around, and new ones made in college. I was fortunate enough for another year to not succumb to the evil force that is mental health and take my own life. I tried my best to keep other safe and stand up for them as well as myself. SO many wonderful minds don't get to reach the 18 year milestone or even live past their teens. SO many parents of wonderful children grieve the loss of a life gone way too soon. But I did turn 18, and lived a full year as an 18 year old, and am ready to live life as a 19 year old with even more gratitude and appreciated for what my Birthday means. I don't care how many people text or DM me "Happy Birthday" or make a post for me on Instagram. Those are all sweet gestures to remind me that I'm loved and thought about, which is something I honestly never expect to get each year given my drastically low self-esteem. If you are like me and haven't really seen your birthday as something to sing about, remember all of those who won't be living another year.
Although I couldnt do all the things I would like to on my birthday this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, like travel, see my friends, go out to eat at a restaurant, etc, I'm so lucky to have my health, my family, my home, a job, an education paid for, and passions that keep me busy. I also get to take more time to celebrate my mom, who was already a mother of a toddler when she was pregnant and gave birth to twins.
As cheesy as it sounds (trust me I am nauseous just typing this truth, but it's important) live your life to the absolute fullest, because you don't know for sure if you'll get another one yourself. I will make it my goal to make 19 a memorable one, since I don't know if I'll get to 20, and if I do, I want to make my 20 year old self proud.
Cheers to the teenage years. I can't believe I'm almost done being in them.
~ Olivia Lorraine
