Students, staff identify their transition to adulthood

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#HowIKnewIWasAnAdult - When did you realize for the first time you were an adult?
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by Annie Beurman

Reporting Correspondent

abeurma1@jccc.edu

The moment you realize you’ve become an adult can be one of the most shocking and amazing discoveries of them all. While you feel nervous about whether or not you can take care of yourself, the excitement of newfound freedom is a joy for most.

Cavaliers on campus shared stories of the moments in their lives when they discovered they felt they had  officially become adults.

Student Mauricio Mayoral moved to the United States from Mexico, leaving his family behind. He soon found that he couldn’t rely on other people anymore and had to take care of himself. Mayoral did this by taking experiences he learned from his family and using them as examples to either use or learn from.

“As a kid I miss the close proximity with all my cousins and uncles and my family and less responsibilities,” he said.

Student Tyler Wollun, in his first year at the college, felt the journey of attending college was his turning point.

“The moment in my life when I first became an adult was when actually enrolling for college, because I knew that this was the start of my future as an adult,” Wollun said.

The time had come for him to finally be independent and Wollun described the feeling as nerve-racking and exciting. While he wasn’t limited as a kid, he does feel a bit more free now that he’s on his own.

Student Mariela Paramo realized she was an adult when she found she no longer had time to take naps. She more often than not felt tired since she was getting less sleep than she used to.

“I feel like now I have responsibilities and when I was a kidc I didn’t have to worry about anything, just playing,” Paramo said.

According to Paramo, if there’s anything she misses from her childhood, it would be not paying bills.

Brenda Starling, who works in the Career Development Center, said adulthood struck her when she had her first child.

“When I was leaving the hospital, I remember looking at my son, going ‘Oh my gosh I am really responsible now,’” Starling said.

The world has changed quite a bit since she was a child. For her, everything now is so much more fast-paced since as a child she didn’t have cell phones or the internet. Starling is not sure if technology is the reason, but she misses the days when she felt everything was more carefree and there were no worries to speak of.

Jeff Anderson, counselor,  felt he officially entered adulthood after finishing graduate school and job hunting. The fact that he was now on his own was overwhelming. Even though he was confident he would be able to find a job, it was still a major transition for him.

No one knows for sure what their future will hold, but the moments that stand out in your past remain in your memory for years. Whether it was realizing you could finally drive, graduating high school, getting your first credit card or anything else, the moment you became an adult will always be a major landmark in your past.

When did you first know you were officially an adult? Use #HowIKnewIWasAnAdult and tell us on Twitter.

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