Turning 18 and becoming an adult are two different milestones in life. In one, you are held legally responsible for your actions. You can buy lottery tickets, you can smoke. You are able to vote.
As for the other, it's more a matter of knowing what your choices are, and knowing how to choose. You hold yourself responsible for your decisions, and no one else.
This past December, I myself turned 18. I didn't buy a pack of cigarettes or any lottery tickets, just had a normal school day and went to youth group. I didn't make a big deal out of my birthday, because I didn't feel much different. I felt as if I had already became an adult. I no longer took the easier routes, and I had already made important life decisions that involved sacrificing dreams I held dear.
I chose to attend Northwest instead of K-State, based on more than just a few factors. I debated on this for several weeks, weighing the pros and cons of the situation. I've had my heart set on K-State for years, most of my life even. But when the time came to choose, I had to step back and look at reality. The cost, the miles, the foreignness... I couldn't bypass them. I didn't want to end up going somewhere where I felt too awkward and lonely, and wasting so much effort and money. I would hate going that much farther away than all of my friends and others I care about. So Northwest won the battle fought inside my raging mind. I'm not saying I feel terrible about this choice, because I know it's a great school with a great English program, I'm only saying I never thought I would be going anywhere other than K-State.
The only reservations I have about Northwest is that Daniel will have graduated from there only a year prior, and I hope I will not have the same issues I have with that as I do in high school.
