As a child, birthdays used to mean huge parties with all of the neighborhood children, new presents, party hats, cake and ice cream. At my house it still means cake, ice cream and presents, but it just isn’t nearly as exciting as it used to be. In elementary school it was an all day celebration with treats for everyone in class. Now it is just another day complete with theory papers due and lit tests to take. Instead of being a huge celebration, it is now more a time of reflection.

Turning 20 is no real milestone. At 16, it is finally time for a little independence. You finally get to drive (even if it is just the four-door family sedan) without a parental unit sitting in the passenger seat. At 18, you can register to vote, giving you the power to help elect the leaders of our government. In another year it will be legal for me to go out to the bars and to play my luck at the lottery or the casinos in the state of Iowa. Finally I will get a chance to win enough money to buy my Jeep!

Turning 20 does mean that I have survived about one-fourth of the average American lifetime. Looking back over the years, I have memories that will always be with me. I have gone to Europe, survived white water rafting and made it through almost two years at Iowa State. My memories are filled with laughter and happiness, loss and tears. I count my blessings, though, because the times of laughter and happiness are what stand out.

The 20 years that I have been on this planet have also taught me an unbelievable amount about myself and the world around me. Some of this learning took place in the classroom. I learned all the elementary school basics, how to read and write, how to add and subtract, even though I will still admit I must have been absent the day that spelling was taught. I learned about our country’s history, how to operate a motor vehicle, how to speak a foreign language and, as much of a shock as it might be for my high school science and math teachers, I even learned some basic mathematical and chemical equations.

It isn’t the classroom learning that has had the most influence on my life, though. It is what I have learned from the people around me and through my life experiences. It is the people who you meet and who touch your life, the places that you visit and explore and the experiences that help you grow that really make a difference in who you are and how you live your life.

One of the most important things that I have learned is that it is impossible to survive if you don’t take things one day at a time. Looking at my planner for the entire semester, my schedule seems next to impossible. Work schedules, papers, tests and projects; it looks like I might have to schedule time to sleep. Just concentrating on things by the day makes everything look a little less frightening and a lot more enjoyable. After all, in 20 years I had a lot of time to practice my cramming skills and become a master procrastinator. There is always enough time to make a quick run to the mall or catch up on your soap opera.

I have also learned that it generally pays to be optimistic. If you always look at things in a negative light, life will be really depressing. Sometimes it is hard to concentrate on the positive, but there has to be something that is going right, even if it is just the fact that you survived yet another day at work or in class. It doesn’t help to look at things thinking that they couldn’t get any worse either, because that is just tempting fate. When you are absolutely positive you are at your lowest, that will be the time that you realize your paper was really due yesterday, or that your car just got towed.

No matter how much I think that I have learned, there is one thing that I am sure of; it is a good thing I still have three-fourths of my life ahead of me, because I still have a lot to learn. Someday I am sure that I will look back on this and think about how young I was once, but until then I will just have to remember that the day-to-day struggles are nothing in comparison to what this world has to offer.

Laura Luiken is a sophomore in English from Webster City.