By Diana

Amid all the AP and IB testing, meetings about the Biloxi trip, everything else a high school senior juggles and the happenings at New Era, I almost couldn’t find time to celebrate my 18th birthday. Yup, that big milestone birthday where you’re no longer (legally) considered a kid. It didn’t help that my closest friends were on a field trip in New York City either.

I did find time and something to do on my birthday with another good friend however. It wasn’t big, it wasn’t mischievous, but it was all right. Better than nothing. It fell on a Thursday too, so I was able to enjoy a new episode of CSI and some really good cake. I also forgot to enter the CSI contest. You know, one of those must-be-18-years-of-age-or-older contests. It just happened to end on my 18th birthday, but I was too sleepy after the show to remember to enter.

Turning 18 is supposed to be a big deal and it probably is, but I don’t feel too different. Maybe it’s because I’m not the type who’s going to go out and “milk it” or act all grown up. Maybe it’s because I still don’t have my driver’s license. Maybe it’s because I still have just under a month of school left or maybe it’s because I never had anything planned in the beginning.

Although I don’t feel like I’ve left adolescence for the official adult world yet, I probably will miss it a bit. I mean, don’t we all miss our milk and cookies before naptime? I’ll probably miss high school just like I miss middle and elementary school. I’ll probably visit too, just like I still do at my middle school. There’s just something about being older and roaming the empty halls, visiting familiar territory and old memories.

But until the adult world (and nostalgia) kicks in, I cannot wait to get out of here.