The candles on top of the cake glisten and shine as flames swirl in all directions. “Happy Birthday” echoes around you but the moment you look up, no one is there. Only the numbers on the cake stare back at you and the fire blows out. Year by year, the numbered candles grew larger. What once was an annual celebration of life, became just another day on the calendar. It’s a problem that a lot of teenagers face: as young children, teenhood was thrilling. Whispered rumors circulated about wild parties, movie-like relationships, and purchasing your first car. For many, the idea of a picturesque high school experience seemed like a guaranteed promise. Although, as time passed, so did the excitement and the enthusiasm that had previously been present.
Nearing adulthood has been marked as a time of evolution and the beginning of new freedoms. At the age of fifteen, you can get a permit, at sixteen you can get a license, at eighteen you graduate, and by twenty-one, what else is in store? Should aging be a privilege or should it be a curse
Various experts have researched birthday blues. One researcher, Dr. Ernesto Lira de Rosa from the Hope for Depression Research Foundation, suggests that it’s not uncommon for someone to experience sadness because of their birthday. The fear of aging is simply a part of getting older.
The question for high students is when did birthdays lose their spark? Was it the socks for presents instead of figurines? Teenage hormones? Or maybe it could’ve been the loss of “magic?” Sophomore Emma Alford has wondered this.
“Obviously, I no longer receive toys. Nowadays, I get more clothes and makeup rather than Barbie dolls,” Alford said. “I also don’t tend to wish for things either. I mean, come on, where’s my unicorn? Where’s my million dollars?”
Like Alford, for many teenagers, once the candles are placed on the cake and the birthday anthem is complete, it is officially time to make a wish. At a certain age, the beliefs in wishes and fairy tale magic no longer exist. If there’s nothing to wish for, why are the candles still lit?
“I was extremely young the last time I remember making a wish. As time went on, I started to realize that wishes don’t come true just by blowing out a few candles on a birthday cake,” Alford said. “It never became real in the past, and it still won’t now.”
Growing up allows numerous realizations and noticings that life doesn’t plan out in the same ways that movies show. The movie “16 Wishes,” starring Debby Ryan, tells the story of a main character whose every wish from age one through sixteen is granted. This film is one of many that represents teenhood and aging in a false light. Many children fall victim to believing what the television shows.
According to Sophomore Anna Miller, movies are incredibly inaccurate, especially when it comes to high school.
“High school in movies and high school in real life is completely different. In movies, there are crazy parties and relationships. Meanwhile, in reality, high school is kind of bland and not anything like what you would think it to be,” Miller said.
Fictional stories form ridiculous expectations. Miller had brought up Disney’s “High School Musical” and how she believes it is a false perspective on high school.
“Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t think that people would be singing and dancing in the hallways, but the overall concept of everything being fun and exciting is really unimaginable,” Miller said.
These false standards also connect to the notion that adulthood and nearing the ‘big eighteen’ is a momentous time for everyone. The truth is, becoming an adult is a huge milestone, however, for some, it’s also a terrifying reality.
“I enjoy experiencing more freedom as a teenager. However, the older you get, the more you have to rely on yourself. Being a teen is the best because you still have your parent’s help. Although, by the time you hit twenty [years old], I can’t call my mom and be like, ‘can you pay my bills?’ That’s not how it works as you get older,” Alford said.
The website Science of People says that birthdays are a reminder that you are aging another day. The fact of growing up is bittersweet. On one hand, as an adult, you can do practically anything you can imagine. On the other hand, adulthood brings new responsibilities and fears that you didn’t have as a child.
Birthday cakes are symbols of life and milestones. With time, you may reach the point where you’re out of wishes, a gift, itself, of age.
