I'm an adult, right?

I turned a 18 few weeks ago and I always thought being 18 would be glorious and fun filled with a lot of things to do, but I don't feel any different.

I was all happy that I could buy cigarettes and get into clubs and stuff (my friends wanted me to purchase some forms of entertainment that I didn't feel comfortable getting). The thing is, I don't smoke I would just end up looking at the tobacco products and throwing them away, and I don't ever feel the need to "go clubbin'" so those don't really help me. I have a draft card now and I can vote (yeah I registered), but there is nothing I can do with those right now.

I'm basically wondering if any of the older people here at ZU felt like this, and when you started feeling more like an adult. Will moving away to college and going on tour (DCI) this summer make the feeling set in? Will I get a wave of feelings at graduation? I just don't really know how I'm supposed to change and be a responsible adult... I feel like a kid.

I've been 18 for 6 months now, and I haven't bought cigarettes or alcohol. I don't plan on doing it either. I haven't registered to vote yet, though. That I plan to do before January's election, though.

It doesn't change much after you graduate. You're stil lyou, after all. But high school is now behind you. Moving away to a new city was great, but I'll always go home time and again. It was hard to leave, yes, but there are a lot of positive things too. University is a great experience.

You thought it would be glorious and fun filled? Well, I suppose you found out. There are some nice things about being an adult, but there are also alot of responsibilities. Its not as "fun" as alot of people think.

Besides, we can't buy alcohol until were 21.

You probably feel the same because you are the same. If you want to feel like an adult, act like one. I'm not saying you can't do things you liked to do as a kid, but get a job, go to college, start your career.

Being an adult means taking charge of your life. It doesn't change you as a person, but you should take on new responsiblities and new experiences. See all that the world as to offer you.

Besides, we can't buy alcohol until were 21.

I don't drink, but age doesn't stop most people

Well said Hyrulian Hero, though you are a wee 15 year old you seem to understand this better than I. However I think I'll finish high school before I start, are you one of those kids whose super driven and motivated about life?

I'm almost 16, and I'm not superdriven. Just excited about life. And I like to think of myself as very wise and mature.

Heck I've been 18 for about... say 8 months. In some ways I feel older but that is mostly because I started college and have a long term boyfriend. I am still just a child, play video games, carry around, act stupidly. but what does make you an adult is the responsiblities as HH pointed out. I drink, but not that much, and I dont' smoke either...AND I can't vote due to my American citizenship. Being an adult doesn't happen over night.

Eighteen ain't nothing. Sure, there's this new feeling of possibility - doors once closed to you are suddenly open, whether you step through or not. But maturity isn't tied to a number - not something that automatically happens when you're old enough to vote. Growing up is a process.

I'm twenty-six (eep!), and I'm only now starting to feel like a true adult. From seventeen on, I started changing - but I can only say that in retrospect. You don't know it's happening when it happens. I know this sounds kind of flakey and obtuse, but that's what 'growing up' is.

Soon you'll be out of highschool - maybe it'll start to feel like an ill fit. You'll go to college or a job, move out of your parents' place, start having to pay bills and feed yourself - all of which you're already capable of, but just don't have to. The best thing you can do for yourself right now is take every possibility that comes at you. Doing new things - leaving your comfort zone - is the best way to learn about yourself and grow. Take smart chances. And don't worry about what you think you're supposed to be - deal with what you are.

Well... being an adult has more responsibilities. As you become older, you'll have more work to do in school. You'll start to notice people around you. You'll start going to places further away. You'll start to look for a job. Sooner or later, you'll start feeling that time is never enough for you. No matter how you've tried to plan out everything so that you will have enough time to finish them, in the end, you notice that you'll be rushing at the last minute.

Well those kind of changes don't really mean anything. The real change come with you get yourself a girlfriend... A Full time job....When you get married and move into your own house.

THEN you feel the way you want to feel... Which sometimes is not always good =P

I've always been in wonder that people think they'll suddenly turn into an adult the MOMENT they hit 18. I know I have, but, being 18 this time next week, I see it as nothing more than 17, but a year closer to dying (give or take accidents). It might be pessimistic but I'm in no way excited about being 18, it's like any other age. In Britain, you can vote and legally buy and drink and sell alcohol (with a license), but that's about it. It's nothing special. I'd be voting Liberal Democrat anyway, heh And I drink in extreme moderation when I'm wont to tipple, drunk and disco-orderly.

It's strange as I was thinking the other day that it's similar to hitting 16 in Britain. When you reach 16, it means that you're legally allowed to have sex with a consenting person over 16. It doesn't mean that you're going to get laid out right then and there does it. In fact, for a *few* teenagers in Britain, it comes before 16, but that's none of my beeswax.

The "aged" feeling doesn't really set in until you're in your early 20's and/or moved out and/or you've bent yourself over the porcelain throne after your first kegger and retched booze out of every orifice in your face. Recreational drug use can also instill this notion. Not that I would know personally or anything.

Originally Posted by The Dark Side

I'm basically wondering if any of the older people here at ZU felt like this, and when you started feeling more like an adult.

Turning 18 does not magically change you. It's just like any other birthday, only you get more responsibilies.

Employer: Happy Birthday, here's your first of many deducted paychecks!
You: Gee, you shouldn't have.

And so on and so forth. Anyway, you'd be surprised how many people don't feel any different (hint: starts with "m" and ends in "ost"). But, maybe I don't know anything, I'm only 16. I was expecting the same thing as you, though. I expected life to change around when when I turned 16, but it didn't. (most people still thought I was 15 or 14. I look younger than 16.)

I'm certainly not looking forward to being responsible. Once I move out I'll have to worry about bills and all that, I feel like Peter Pan (bursting out into song, Cal sings) Don't wanna grow up, wanna grow up, wanna grow uuuuup! Not me!
(quote from the really old, stinky version where they still had that stupid tradition of girls being Peter)

So don't fret, you're not crazy or anything, you're normal.

Originally Posted by Epyon

Besides, we can't buy alcohol until were 21.

Maybe for you Americans. But in Canada, the age is 18. However, I still won't be doing it.

No matter what happens, you are always you. You dont really change, you grow, as you add more experiences. I am rather static myself, but I seem to be abnormal in this regard.

Being 18 truely doesnt make you an adult, it is more to it than that. Its all about maturity of your mind, I am really mature for my age (20)...a lot of my friends are older than me and they are way immature. Yes you do get to do some neat things, like being able to vote and so on...but that doesn't really make you an adult IMO. You realise these things when you grow up and take control of your life, you have responibilities and the such which you have to adhere to. Age is just a number...it is the maturity of the mind that makes you an adult.

Now I have an odd feeling I'm goning to be very dissapointed when I turn 13...

Originally Posted by V99

Well those kind of changes don't really mean anything. The real change come with you get yourself a girlfriend... A Full time job....When you get married and move into your own house.

THEN you feel the way you want to feel... Which sometimes is not always good =P

Exactly! Being an adult doesn't determine what's your age, it determines what you do in life. Ok, sure, kids that are younger than you (meaning less than 12) may see you as an adult because you look older, are taller, and have more experience than them in life. That's just the simple deffinition of an adult. I'm 19, and about to turn 20 in four months...I have a gf, a job, live in my own appartment, and go to school. Sure I live in Boston and there are many sources where I can "go clubbin'", get different forms of tobacco, or even buy/go into rated R (or higher) movies. The thing is, I don't smoke, I'm not the best dancer (like anyone would notice since every club is pretty much a mosh pit...dang it's packed), and I don't need to see those kinds of movies. Now with all of that said, do you consider me an adult? Don't answer that question. Don't look for other people's opinion on your "status", just reflect on yourself, and think..."Am I an adult?"

-BGS

Now you can rent X-rated movies. w00t.

I'm turning eighteen in a little less then a month, and I don't expect it to change a damn thing. Ok, it'll change a little - there will be more job opportunities open to me. But I don't have any immediate need for the rest of it.

I've found that one's numerical age becomes less important as the years go by. When I turned 20 this year, that was a little surprising. You know, because "20" sounds much older than 16 or 17. But, I really didn't feel any differently than 19. Age is tricky like that.

I know graduate school students who still act like children. Age isn't just about a number or date; it's a state of mind.

Enjoy being 18. Go buy some lotto tickets or something.

...By the way, good luck with the DCI thing. What corp are you trying out for? I probably would've done DCI, but I didn't want to learn a new instrument.

Someone once said that in the United States, adolescence lasts until the age of roughly 35. This was said back in like the 30's, too. I get the sense that America is, if anything, less mature than it was then.