What changes when you turn 18?

A few weeks ago I turned 18. That's right, I entered into adulthood on Jan. 9, and you know what? I don't feel any different.

When you turn 18 you are legally allowed to buy cigarettes and porn, you can join the army and vote. But 18 also means something else, that you have to grow up.

I am now about five months from graduation, and to be honest that terrifies me. Don't get me wrong, I am already a very independent person. I have two jobs, a bank account that is much larger than my friends, a car in my name, and I am responsible for all of the things that I do, already. However, there is something about turning 18 that makes you look back on everything that was once your reality.

While on the phone with a friend of mine who I've known since preschool, we talked about what we remembered from each year of school, and what we predicted our lives would end up being.

I could guess at what I thought his might turn out to be, but when I really thought about my future I couldn't come up with anything solid.

I guess the thing that scares me the most, is that I don't have a definite answer for what comes next. Each year in school you are told what classes you have to take and which ones you can choose from, and then you move on to the next year. Now the choices are unlimited and to be honest, I have no idea where to start.

I know that I want to move to San Francisco and which schools I want to attend, but as for the rest, it is pretty much as foggy as a San Francisco morning.

The day before my birthday, I went to my old elementary school, Gardnerville Elementary. The playground has changed, things have moved, and new equipment has been brought in, but some of the things I used to devote hours to still remains.

I guess that is the way life is. You change, you move on, new things enter and exit your life, but some things will always be the same. The things that remain the same are the things that will guide you to where-ever you wish to go.

-- April Epps is a Douglas High School senior and an intern for The Record-Courier.