Ever since fourth grade (or actually, lack thereof), I’ve been dealing with an issue that’s always made me feel a bit disconnected from my peers. I skipped fourth grade, and also have a summer birthday – which landed me in the position of being two years younger than my classmates for the last 12 years of my life. Here’s a few reasons why that totally sucked, and also a few why I wouldn’t go back and change it for anything.
1. Sweet 16
Most people turn sixteen around their sophomore year of college, which to a teenager means one thing: driving. In the farm state of Idaho, you can take driver’s ed at 14 ½ – and I started the class exactly on my 14 ½ birthday. Buuuut, by the time I got my permit at 15 and license at 16, most of my friends and classmates had already been driving for two years. Talk about feeling like an outcast.
2. Legally an adult
Once again – all of my friends were 18 when we graduated high school, and there I was not having even turned 17 yet. That led to me being underage (not legally an adult) for my entire freshman year of college – the amount of paperwork I had to send home for my parents to sign because I couldn’t legally make decisions for myself was embarrassing.
3. 21 – the last milestone
Many people say turning 21 is the last great milestone before the inevitability of aging starts to hit you. I am graduating college in 4 days and am still only 20, which means that for the past 2 years or so I have been watching my friends drink alcohol or get into clubs and concerts that I could never join them at.
Okay, so poor me right? Wrong. The fact is, the slight acceleration in my education has led me to where I am today, a successful, hardworking student about to finish my undergraduate degree. Although I was only 8 at the time and didn’t have much say in the decision, I fully stand by the choice to skip the Oregon Trail video game and whatever else people learn in the fourth grade.
1. Keep moving forward
I am in a position where, a year from now, I will have a master’s degree in my field at the age of barely 22. This is a total benefit to me – it not only allows me to start my career that much sooner, but also gives me that one additional thing to help me stand out from the crowd.
2. Two truths and a lie
Saying I graduated from high school at age 16 is a pretty cool statement to use for Two Truths and a Lie – everyone always thinks that’s the lie.
3. Who dat girl?
My age and the way I used to try to hide it was a big part of my identity for a long time. I am about to pass the final milestone, turning 21, where it officially won’t matter ever again how old I am compared to those around me. I am grateful for the “toughening up” experience it gave me growing up, and also for how it has shaped me as an adult and prepared me to handle the real world problems that will never stop arising. Plus, when all of my college friends are 30, I’ll get to still be 28, and that will be pretty great.