My 26th birthday is this Sunday and a weird mix of emotions has overtaken me. It seems like I just turned the big two-five and here’s comes twenty-six just a knockin’ at my door, a constant reminder that thirty just down the block and around the corner. I’m not ready, in my Kevin Hart voice. Can’t I just enjoy being 25 one more year?
This is my first year in graduate school so to help combat the expenses, I’ve been searching for scholarships. Today, I saw one that particularly interested me but the cut off age was 25. By the time it would have taken me to write the required essay, I would’ve been 26, making me an ineligible candidate. I’ve spent most of my years wishing that I could be of a certain age so that I could do whatever it is one does that those ages–18 to get into the club, 21 to drink–and there’s still some things that I can’t do. It’s like they said, you’re on your own kiddo.
Then there are those expectations that we allow society to place on us. When are you getting married? You guys have been together X amount of years. Or when are you having children? Don’t wait until you get too old. You don’t want to be thirty pushing a stroller! As if that’s not enough to ponder, I have other things that I wonder, like am I ever going to be in my career field doing what I worked so for, placing myself into a debt that I’ll be paying for the rest of my life?
Even with these fears though, I am grateful. There are some people that didn’t make it to see twenty-six, hell there are some that don’t live to see twenty-one. Any age that God grants me on this Earth is a blessing and another chance to work closer to achieving my dreams. I’m confident 26 will be just as great as 25 has been, if not better. The best is yet to come!
Hello world,
My name is Zeena. Yes, with a Z, not an X. Z as in the 26th letter in the alphabet. 26 years on this Earth. Happy Birthday to me! (Almost)
How do you handle embracing a new age?
The College Grad
Twitter: @thecollegegrad
A Black Girl About Town 