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What does it mean to be an adult? Does it mean turning 18? For a girl, does it mean getting that first period? Maybe it means finally leaving the parent’s nest and setting out on one’s own. Or does it mean turning 21, when you can finally legally have that first drink? Society has created these ideas of what it means to become an adult and when we should have matured to a certain degree. But, in my opinion, it’s missed the mark by quite a bit. When I think about my past, and the freedom and rights I had at certain ages, I’m honestly just really grateful that I’m alive and didn’t royally screw up my life. I can’t believe the level of agency I was given in my own life at such a young age. I barely just learned some fundamental life lessons in recent years, and I know I still have many more to learn. Here are life choices I don’t think we should even be allowed to make before age 25.
Getting married
I’m truly terrified for friends who get married before the age of 25 (and I’m being generous—I’m sort of afraid for those who marry before their late twenties at least). Realistically, most of us probably only even have our first true adult relationship after college. Anything in the college years and before doesn’t count. We were kids. We would have text fights. We were jealous and insecure and flighty. We didn’t know who we were. We didn’t even yet understand the stress of managing our own lives—like, having jobs and paying our own rent—while also being a good partner.
