In a little less than an hour, by the time I post this, I will be twenty years old, shedding the "teen" status for far greener pastures and heavier responsibilities, or so I would think.

Before today, I needed people to remind me this day was coming; when I was younger I'd get more excited for birthdays, but this one doesn't seem as dramatic. Yes, I can vote still. Yes, I can drive still. No, I still cannot legally drink alcohol (in the United States). So, I'm left in the same place as I was a year ago, aside from the stigma of being a teenager. My rights as a citizen certainly haven't changed much.

To not be a teen anymore is a big step. Granted, 19 is a high teen, but it fails in comparison to saying that you've been in the light for two decades. To me, it sounds like a big step.

This academic year will bring more responsibilities. It's not necessarily because I'm twenty, but I could look at it as being so- a year longer of experience conversing with others and figuring out what sort of person I am helps.

I'll just be graduating in two years and really had this summer left to saunter around at my leisure for the last time in a very long time- it's time to get my act right, I suppose. That's not a new goal to have but it's certainly more prominent now.

I just feel it's natural progression though that's making me do some of the things I do. I'm just stepping from one platform of existence to the other. No real humongous chasms I have to cross. It's only one year from 19 to 20.

What I'm trying to get at in this blog is that turning twenty is a plateau that carries with it some power, different than being called a teenager. In looking at it though, this year is more or less the same as the past few years after I turned 18.

21, may in fact, be the bigger year- and that sort of upsets me.

It's like those people who claim the new millennium didn't start in 2000, but on January 1st, 2001- do we really have to get down to the logistics? Just allow me to drink legally, let me get that status of an "adult" quicker; I have been waiting ever since I turned 18...and society makes us wait that long. What does a year really mean at this point anyway?