Column: When I turn 18…

By Caroline Schneider

Next month, I turn 18. And although I’m not one to reminisce on the past and all of the things I’m going to be leaving behind next year, I have given thought to some of the things I’m going to have to give up when I become an adult.
1. Disney Channel shows. Once I turn 18, my love for Hannah Montana reruns and new episodes of Phineas and Ferb is going to have to die, because as an adult I have no excuse to watch these childish shows. Unless I’m babysitting, then that’s okay.
2. Complaining. Anyone who knows me is thinking, “Yeah, right,” but once I turn 18, I’m going to make it a goal of mine to act like an adult when things happen that I don’t like, instead of whining about not getting my way.
3. Wearing things from middle school. I may be one of three seniors at Northwood who is the same size they were in eighth grade, and although I can still get away with that solid pink Hollister shirt I bought when I was 13, I think next month it will be time to take it to Plato’s Closet and see how much gas money I can get for it.
4. Not knowing how to spell. The other week, when Mrs. Freeman pointed out that I didn’t know how to spell vegetation, I realized that maybe as an almost-adult, I should look over my seventh grade spelling tests and refresh my memory. I’m sure any teacher I’ve ever had would agree.
5. Reading my young teenage books from back when I had time to read. What middle school girl didn’t love her books about a 14-year-old girl’s summer with her father where she meets a cute 15-year-old boy and they hang out for happily ever after? Well, now that I’m going to be an adult, it’s time to move on to bigger, badder, not-as-happy books more appropriate for my age. That is, if I ever do find time to read for fun.
6. Children’s food. I am all about some Kids Meals and Cars macaroni and cheese. That’s all right though, because I’m technically still a child, right? Not to mention that most children’s food is extremely unhealthy, but it’s going to be hard to explain my love for gummies and cinnamon Eggo waffles when I go to college, and, you know, enter the real adult world.
Lastly, and probably most importantly, I’m going to have to give up the limited responsibility that comes with being a kid. Sooner than I’d like, I’m going to have to do my own dishes, take out my own trash and make my own food, even on those days that I just really want my daddy to make that food for me. Turning 18 comes with more than furthered legal consequences for bad things and being able to vote. It comes with a responsibility that I’m not sure I’m all that ready to handle yet. I’ve spent the past 17 years and 11 months waiting to be 18, but now, 18 seems to be coming too soon.