Childhood is Calling Me Back

I'm graduating with my Bachelors of Science in May. While I am super excited to graduate, I can't help but wonder, "how the heck did I get this old?!!!!" and "what am I supposed to do with my life now?!!" These questions mostly rest on the fact that I do not feel like an adult. I've been through some life events that I always thought would mean I was an adult, including voting, having my 21st birthday, paying rent and bills, going to college, making my own meals, etc. And yet, I still don't consider myself an adult. I do adult things, and the government views me as an adult, and yet I don't feel grown up. Does that come with a real career or perhaps marriage and kids?

I feel like a giant kid living on my own--which definitely has its perks because the more grown-up activities I do (like work and bills and holding my tongue) the less I want to be grown-up. I wish I could go back in time and slap my little child-self for ever wishing to be a grown-up. Being a kid rocked: I got to play all the time, school was easy, I had recess, there was no work, I got a bedtime story and got tucked into bed every night, and my mom took care of me when I was sick (One of my most horrible life-experiences was when I got the flu my freshman year of college and my mom wasn't there to take care of me. I felt like I was dying, and my roommates couldn't have cared less!), and there were no hard, life-changing decisions that I had to make. Bottom line: I wish I could be a kid forever (actually a kid-adult hybrid because certain adult privileges like driving and no curfew would only enhance the eternal childhood that I'm envisioning).

Dave Barry has a quote that says, "You can only be young once, but you can always be immature." So, even though I look like an adult, and begrudgingly do some adult tasks like laundry, I can always be immature to ensure that I don't ever fully become an adult. Granted, this is not a totally original idea as many others also appear to be following this path back to childhood through immaturity.