Turning twen-teen!

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Calling yourself a ‘teenager’ is a great feeling. But what happens when you realise you’re turning ‘20’ soon or have just turned 20? With the letters ‘T-E-E-N’, missing from your age, will your new age make a big difference to your life or is 20 just another number?

For student Leanne Pais, who turned 20 recently, getting out of teenage hasn’t made such a big difference to her life. “I’ll feel the same for a while ‘cos I’m still going to be in college for one more year. I haven’t gotten to the work environment, so I still feel like a teenager,” she says.
Of course, she groaned and moped when she turned 20, but that didn’t stop her from having child-like fun on her birthday. “I had a birthday party with a theme called ‘Buttons and Bowls’. Thirty two of us ended up playing musical chairs, tail and the donkey and indulged in snacks and relived our childhood days, which we didn’t do as teens either,” reveals Leanne.
Twenty is just another number in terms of what you feel; says engineering student Mridula Vasudev, who’s turning 20 in a few months. “But when you’re telling someone your age, it makes a difference. How-ever, in general, it’s not such a big deal,” she says. The way you feel when you hit the big ‘20’ also depends on where you’re placed in life when you get out of your teenage years, feels Mridula, adding, “If there’s a major change in your life at that point, then it might make a big difference, but I’m still going to be in college, so it’s not a big change for me.”
The big ‘20’ is a major change for some. BBM student Kiran Raj, who’s turning 20 tomorrow, says, “My age reminds me that I’ll be entering my last year of college soon. Next year, I’ll have to decide on my career plans or maybe even find a job. It will also include job placements and a lot more responsibility.” Till now, he says, college life was about fun and being bindaas, but after 20, Kiran will have to decide between working and going abroad for further studies. “I can’t depend on my parents for everything anymore. I’ll have to take some major decisions in life. The responsibilities are going to take some fun away from life,” he adds.
The big ‘20’ enters everybody’s life at one point. But that shouldn’t stop any of us from living our lives with fervour, should it?