21, A Milestone Birthday… Or Is It?

The big two one, no I’m not talking about degrees. This time I’m talking age. Like many students, this week I’m turning 21 whilst at uni. But is it a big deal?

Last weekend I popped home to see the family and apparently it is…or at least it is to them anyway. My dad said he felt old because ‘his baby was 21’ whilst my mum sighed with a tear in her eye that I was to be here in Norwich on my ‘big birthday’ and not at home in Hertfordshire. My step-dad simply said it ‘felt weird.’

So what’s all the fuss about? Is 21 just a cue for the parents to go on a mass reminisce fest, or does it actually mean something?

So what’s all the fuss about?

“She’s got the key to the door, never been twenty-one before.” We’ve all seen the 21st birthday cards with the big old silver keys. The key to adulthood seems to have been replaced by the key to a slightly mouldy student house for me though. Oh the glamour of student living!

Perhaps the notion of adulthood is changing. Us students appear as this odd uncategorized being in today’s adult world. We’re certainly not children, but being financially dependent, I’d say we’re not exactly adults either (21 or not.)

As a student, 21 simply means that I’m due a weekend off from the dreaded dissertation and a decent night out.

I can’t see 21 being life changing. I guess I will no longer have to look shifty in that over 21 bar at home. But that’s nothing that extraordinary considering I’ve been sneaking in from age 18 anyway.

However, a quick Google search has informed me that at 21 one can:

•Hold an airline transport pilot’s licence for an aeroplane, helicopter and gyroplane.

•Apply for a provisional licence to drive a large passenger vehicle or heavy goods vehicle.

•Supervise a learner driver (providing you have held a full licence for the same type of vehicle for at least three years)

•Be elected as a Member of Parliament, local councillor or a mayor

•Adopt a child

Ok so three out of five involve driving a vehicle. Not great news for a girl who has barely mastered parking her KA. And adopting a child at uni could be troublesome. But Rachel Moss MP? First step to world domination…yep that one could work.