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The Oparinde Christianah Nigeria Student @ Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta
In Relationships • 3 min read •
YOU ARE BECOMING SOMEONE YOU HAVEN'T MET BEFORE

Nothing in this world can prepare you for your Twenties. No advice can give you the perfect gleams. 

Everyone talks about your twenties like they're some exciting new chapter. They say things like, "Your twenties will shape your life." Cool. Nice. Inspiring.

But nobody tells you that in your 20's, you'll wake up one morning and genuinely wonder who this new version of you is.

Because... who is she?

Can we talk about the changes?

Like... did anybody else suddenly start looking at their family differently?

Not necessarily better or worse. Just... differently.

You start realizing parents are people before they were parents. Aunties are women before they became aunties. Uncles are carrying stories you'll probably never fully know.

And somehow, without forcing it, you start loving some people from a healthier distance and embracing the ones who quietly choose you.

It's a very weird shift.


Then there's your body.

Ladies... who lied that hormones were a myth?

Who said ovulation making you feel attractive was just social media talk? It's real like mad!

One week you're looking in the mirror thinking, "Actually... I look good."

The next week your luteal phase arrives and suddenly everybody is annoying you.

Your body starts introducing emotions you didn't even know had names.

You realize you're not "moody." You're actually learning your body for the first time.


Then friendships.

I used to think romance was the most exciting relationship anyone could have.

Now? Give me people I can laugh with. Give me people that know when my social battery is dead. Give me people that don't make me perform. 

Somehow friendship became more attractive than butterflies.

And romance stopped being something to "just see where it goes."

Twenty will make you ask, "Where are we actually going?" making your heart ready to packs its bags.


Academics changed too.

I don't know who convinced us that only career achievements deserve celebration.

Passing a difficult course deserves celebration.

Submitting your project deserves celebration.

Graduating deserves celebration.

Academic success is still success.

It doesn't become less valuable because we thought it wasn't LinkedIn-worthy.


Career changed in a way I wasn't expecting.

There was a time every opportunity looked like an opportunity.

Now I catch myself asking a very uncomfortable question. "Do I even want this?"

Money is important. Very important.

But apparently adulthood teaches you that not every open door deserves your energy.

Some opportunities pay well but cost too much of you.

And that's a lesson nobody teaches early enough.


The funniest change? The future.

Somehow twenty makes the future louder.

Not in a scary way. Just... intentional.

You stop making decisions only because they feel good today.

You start thinking about the version of you that has to live with today's choices.

It's almost like twenty quietly introduces consequences and calls them maturity.


You don't have to have your life figured out because your age now starts with a two.

You're allowed to become in chapters.

I think that's why being twenty feels so uncomfortable.

You're shedding versions of yourself almost every month.

Your body changes. Your relationships change. Your priorities change. Your definition of success changes.


And one random afternoon, you catch yourself responding to life differently than you would have last year.

That's when it hits you. 

You are becoming someone you haven't met before.

And maybe that's exactly what your twenties were supposed to feel like.



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