My parents started me a year early in preschool because they "thought I was ready", so I have always been the baby of all my friends. While everyone was getting there driver's licenses during their sophomore year in highschool (when most people turned 16, or some people were driving freshman year because the South Carolina driving age is 15 - and many people from my school commuted over the Savannah River to go to our private school), they were all busy driving me around. I was the last to turn 16 and it felt like an eternity. And now, I'm going to be the last to turn 21. So while allll (okay, not ALL I'm exaggerating but MOST) of my friends have been turning 21 this fall, I just turned 20 August 31st. Yes, 323 days and counting left until I too can go to all the cool places my friends can go to (stress free). Because I am the baby and always have been, I have always wished to be older so I can catch up on all the fun. One of my good friends who is about to be 22 recently told me: "Don't wish your life away. Of course 21 is EXCITING and something you wait for - but, I'm about to be 22 and I'm like ****! After 21, you don't have that many ages to look forward to ever again". I truly took this to heart. When I thought about it, it really makes a lot of sense. You're never going to be like "OMG you guys I'm going to be 23 woooooo I'm getting OLD!" I also realized how I should embrace my last few years of college and not wish to be any older, even though I won't turn 21 until my senior year in college. Today, while at lunch with my little cousins and mom in a local Italian restaurant, one of our neighbors approached me and said "Stefanie! I haven't seen you in soo long! I can't believe how grow you are! How old are you now?" I almost was going to say 19, but today was the first day I really thought about it - I am 20 now. Two decades old. In between 10 and 30. Half way between a little girl and a woman. At 10 years old, I was in the 5th grade and very care free. At 30, I hope to have built a beautiful resume, married, and hopefully am on maternity leave at that point (I want to have kids in my late 20s, *subject to change). Long story short, today was the first real day that I thought about my current age, where I've been, and where I want to go. There's still a little bit of that fun-loving little girl in me, and I hope the next few years will help me to get to where I want to be by 30. But after all this pondering, I have definitely learned not to wish my life away any quicker than it's already moving.
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