Timetable

I've never done things on the same time table as everyone else. I was the girl who matured at least two years before every other girl in my class yet has never been in a relationship. Ages just don't mean as much to me as everyone else.

I didn't get my license on my 16th birthday, I got it 3 months later on a date that meant more to me at a time when I felt more comfortable.

I've never had a boyfriend yet I've been planning my future since I was 11

I didn't do anything special for my 18th birthday (I was a camp counselor) but essentially that's the year I started my career

And on my 21st birthday I watched Mulan and drank sparkling cider with some of the best people I know. The desire to drink has never existed. Now that school is approaching, the pressure is mounting. You think that there's pressure when you're underage? Try when you're legal. At least you have a built in excuse when you're not legal. Now I'll have to convince people that I don't drink. Which in theory sounds easy and you're probably thinking if I had a backbone, it would be easy. The issue doesn't lie in me drinking--I don't do anything I don't feel completely comfortable with. It's the expectation that exists. I wish that it wasn't automatically assumed that now that I'm 21, I will suddenly feel comfortable with drinking. I don't care how safe it is, how people will look out for me...it's just not something I'm interested in nor do I feel comfortable with it yet. When I feel like I'm ready, it will just happen. I'm just hoping the rest of the world will understand that and leave me alone like they've done up until this point.