Adulting is the modern term for twenty-somethings engaging in adult-like behavior. People adult for various reasons… to get kudos on social media, in response to peer pressure, or as a reaction to specific life events.
I’m above 25 and only really realized I was an adult last month when my nieces in University asked me for money. Before then, I thought that adulting began when I started University. I saw myself in a totally different country and had to live with people of different cultures that I have never had to experience before. I also had to decorate my house myself lol. It was a grown-up thing to me because I was used to people doing things for me. So this was a major change.
I asked some people in my workplace to tell me about the first time they discovered they were adults. These are their (short) stories.
Louisa
“I really didn’t need to grow up before realizing I was one. I was fifteen when I started taking responsibility for the welfare of my siblings.”
Chidinma
“After I graduated from university, I moved out of my parents’ house because I realized I wanted more than the environment was offering me.”
Adekunle
“I come from a family where my parents gave us a lot of independence. When I turned 17, I moved out to college and had to take care of myself. I stopped collecting allowance and I now take care of my family sometimes.”
White
“When I was 13 and my family first moved to Abuja, we had to sleep in my dad’s shop. I was surprised and my dad told me that I now had to be a man. That was when it hit me that I was no longer a child.”
Ifeanyi
“My opinion on adulting is quirky because I refuse to identify as one. I know that I’m grown and I pay bills. I just refuse to call myself an adult.”
