1984
Birthdays are a curious thing. Or actually I should say: age is a curious thing. But usually you do not spare any thoughts on age whereas birthdays tend to focus attention on your own age. And thus they inevitably get you thinking.
I still remember how exciting birthdays were as a child. The suspense of whether or not you will get the present you wished for could keep you up all night. (Except for the year when we were playing hide and seek and I found the Playmobil dollhouse hidden in a closet. The only suspense then was whether I would be able to convincingly act surprised…) A big part of the excitement though was the fact that you were getting older. It meant more rights, more freedom, more possibilities. This was true especially and most of all for the 18th birthday: finally being able to drive and vote and officially grown up.
Looking back, it seems rather foolish to expect that anything would be different over night. Turning 18 did not miraculously turn me into an adult. I still went to school and it was another year before I moved out. It was even more years before I no longer depended on my parents financially. In fact, it has been claimed that over the past decades adolescence has been extended well into your twenties. Though legally a grownup at 18, adulthood is now said to truly start at age 30.
With just a few days left before I turn 30, I wonder whether I can consider myself an adult. I did manage to finish my studies – something that was somewhat doubtful at age 28. Though I have a job, it is anything but a clear career path. On the whole, there still seem to be more uncertainties ahead of me than I could ever plan for. Only if being an adult means you are fully aware of this, can I say ‘mission accomplished’.
Maybe I should stick with wat my aunt used to say: you are grown up once you have your own children. In that case I still have some time – even with a big birthday coming up.
Johanna Gröne (still 29, German) studied Health Care, Ethics & Policy at TilburgU. She works for a health insurance company and is a member of the Gemeenteraad (Tilburgs local council).
Advertentie.
