On January 13th, I turned 18! After reading up on different things I could do now that I am. The website listed many things, but the one thing that stuck to me was that now I can get a tattoo or a piercing without my parents consent (don’t worry, I still asked them.) So finally the day came and I was ready to get my tattoo. I already had my design picked out and an appointment with the artist wanted. After waiting a long week, I finally got to get my tattoo on my birthday.

We had spent the morning at my house just hanging out and watching movies before our crazy day started. Around two in the afternoon, everyone in my family started to get ready to go get my tattoo and go have my dinner after. After my birthday had passed, it kind of had me thinking, what did other people do on their first day of being 18. Senior, Jose Iraheta told me, “I spent most of my birthday at school, but afterschool I had a lot of fun hanging out with friends and my family.” He also explained that he had gone to eat dinner later on that day and later that week some of his other friends had a party for him.

Turning 18 is like a right of passage, even though the suffix of the word is teen, you are still considered an adult. Being 18 gives you many freedoms that you wouldn’t have ever thought you would have. I never thought my parents would let me stay out past 12 A.M. or go get a tattoo. Now that I’m just a little older, I have more freedoms, which is crazy because I’m just a little bit older than last year. Now that I’m 18, I kind of appreciate things more than before, and that makes me thankful for the rules I had to follow before.