I was an adult since I was about 10. Maybe 12 at the latest. I was certainly wiser, smarter and more able to reflect on my own situation and life than the adults around me even when I was that young.

Perhaps that is because I grew up in rural North Florida (very much a part of the Old South, and all that entails), or perhaps it was something inherent in me and it would’ve been true anywhere; I don’t know. What I do know is that I was an adult, wiser than almost all of those around me, from around 10 years old.

So it bothers me when I see statements like, “Oh, she/he is only 22 – still a baby.” Or asserting that college students are still children.

Completely idiotic I find that sort of thinking.