The Awkward Ages of 18+

             There’s no longer the wonder of being a freshman where you can happily walk into any party with a keg and pay a two for $5 cover charge. The appeal of frat boys with bad pick-up lines fades away after you realize they won’t ever serve as decent boyfriends or acquaintances for that matter. And you certainly can’t use the ever popular line, “but I’m a freshman,” to excuse your poor drunken behavior. Once you pass the ripe age of 19, things just take a turn for the worse.

            Suddenly you find yourself terribly bored at parties where an iPod serves as a DJ and cheap beer only guarantees a bad hangover the next morning. Then you start to see your 21-year-old friends experience the glitz and glamour of Philadelphia’s nightlife – the clubs, the bars, the party-girl scene. Jealously sets in and a year feels like a life-time away. You’re at a stand-still, embarrassingly in between two very different phases of your life.
 

             Assuming you don’t resort to buying a suspicious fake ID from some unknown internet source, this is a age you’re going to have to deal with one way or another. I’m not saying it’s easy – I know it’s not. I happen to work in the club scene. I’ve been back and forth to Philadelphia and Atlantic City and have watched all my friends go party after work, while I found my way back to my bed and a bowl of ice cream. But, if anything, being twenty will make you realize a few things.

            First off, those nights you would have spent partying, you’ll end up with the few friends that matter. The people who are just as fun outside the confines of a dimly lit basement, those are the keepers and they’ll stick with you through every awkward age. On top of that, you might actually meet a reliable significant other, someone compatible with you and interested in your life adventures. In case you haven’t noticed, that type doesn’t usually show up at parties where shots of Vladimir are involved. And lastly, you might get to know yourself a little better. 

 

             Now I can’t say I’m quite content with being twenty, it hasn’t been absolutely terrible. My birthday, which happens to fall on New Year’s Eve, is right around the corner. So I guess these last few months, I’m just going to have to spend my time with my three amazing and hilarious roommates, making fun of all the dire freshman parties we stumble across. Maybe it’s not so bad.