The disheartening reality of looking 19 but feeling 25
I have never been good at making friends with people my age. I imagine, for others around campus, it’s the same way.
Let me be clear: to my fellow Chippewas who are under 21 and sometimes feel as though your older friends are babysitting you, rather than just hanging out — I understand.
When you’re younger that doesn’t matter. When you’re 16 and your best friends are graduating high school, you know that you’re all in that same boat of not quite being at the cusp of adulthood. So you bond about not being able to go out to certain restaurants after hours or being unable to get into R-rated movies because you look too young.
Now at 20, with most of my friends over the age of 21, it’s a bit different. Many of my friends talk about going to the bar or out to clubs where there are age restrictions.
I’m caught in a conundrum. On the one hand, the rational side of me wants to say it’s only natural my friends want to go to the bar. They’re adults; they’re able to do that. But the other side, the more selfish side of me, feels a bit dejected. Is alcohol more appealing than my friendship? Survey says — maybe.
You’re sort of at odds with yourself when you’re the youngest in your friend group. You want to be mad that you can’t go out with your friends after a certain point in the night, but logically you know you can’t be. It’s like getting mad at someone for having the ability to go out to eat when you don’t have the extra pocket change for Taco Bell. It’s nonsense.
So my message for others in the same boat as me is this: there’s nothing that can be done, so why worry? Millennials are guilty of having an over-obsession with FOMO, or the “fear of missing out.” Nobody likes to get Snapchats of their friends at the bar or going to a concert that’s only 21 and up. But it’s life. And life’s unfair like that sometimes.
Remember this for when you turn 21. Remember what it felt like to have to re-watch friends having fun through videos or go through photos on Facebook. Obviously don’t put your life on hold for those who can’t always participate because of age restrictions.
But maybe remember that you don’t have to go out to the bar every night to have fun.
