Quarter-life crisis

I turn 20 on Monday.\nNow of course, this is not as life-altering as turning 21. Nor is it as memorable as 15 (driving permit), 16 (driver's license) or 18 (voting), but it's still kind of a big deal.\nFor instance, I will no longer be a teenager, and I'm not going to miss that. I mean, I've been a teenager since junior high. Really, it's a period I'm ready to be done with.\nThat's why I have decided to look to the future. With that in mind, the other day I was contemplating about how entering this new era of my life will change me. \nFirst off, with any luck, my voice will stop breaking at infrequent yet extremely embarrassing moments. (That's what they don't teach you in junior high when you're watching "The Movie." The scary part isn't the creepy animation of a girl "growing into adulthood," it's the fact that you're still going to be worried about the same crap for years to come.)\nAnyway, another thing to look forward to this year is that being 20 just sounds older than being 19. Now, I have argued this point every year since I was about, oh, 4 years old. However, this year, I think the argument carries some more weight.\nOne of the many benefits of this is that I'm pretty sure girls are more attracted to 20-year-olds rather than the younger, immature teenagers. Nineteen-year-olds play video games and make fart jokes while 20-year-olds sit at coffee shops and say things like, "I disagree with the post modernist theory of vectors simply on principle." (Sorry, I can't really explain that yet.)\nNow, of course, I can't be sure of any of this. Please remember that I don't turn 20 until Monday. I'm just giving you all a little warning as to why my next column will probably be about something culturally significant (I'd give you an example, but clearly my 19-year-old mind can't think of one) instead of trying to figure out what the heck women are thinking, which I will undoubtedly have discovered when I wake up on my birthday. (This is a bit of convenient timing. As it stands, I'll understand women right in time for Valentine's Day.)\nReally, though, the more I think about it, the more I keep coming back to the same thought. There must be some kind of typo somewhere because I can't possibly be 20.\nI mean, I still play Super Nintendo, I like to listen to Ryan Cabrera and all that I know about the future is that I want to be a writer. That's as cliché as telling your kindergarten teacher you want to be an astronaut or lawyer, except as a writer, my classes are easier and I'll make a lot less money.\nSeriously, I can't be 20. I don't have any of this stuff figured out. What I really need is to buy myself some time.\nHmm ...\nDid I mention that I turn 19 on Monday?