A lot have things have made me realize that I've grown up a lot(I'm only 20 though...so guess I got a ways to go still :D):

--When I first got a car(parents wouldn't let me get one until I was a freshman in college) and realized I could take myself anywhere I wanted to go.

--I'm on Xmas break and I'm at home... and telemarketers think *I'm* the mom instead of asking for the head of the house. Really makes me feel old!

--Being able to admit I was at fault instead of trying to blame someone else.

--The first time I made my own doctor's appointment.

--My first job.

--My first time filing my taxes.

--My first day at college. It dawned on me that I could do ANYTHING I wanted, stay up as LATE as I wanted, EAT whatever I wanted to, and not have to report back to anyone about when I would be home. The first night in my dorm room, I actually ate pretzels, a Twinkie, and a Dr. Pepper for dinner, just because I could. :D And I stayed up until 3am with a friend I had just made(who is a close friend still), just because I could. :D

But more than anything, these have made me realize that I've matured so much since college began:

--Letting friends know (either by telling them or by writing it on my message board outside my door) where I'm going and when I'll be back, just in case.

--eating at Subway instead of McDonalds, and buying fruit and veggies to snack on in my room, and switching to diet sodas because I realized that, while I'm independant and CAN eat whatever I want, it makes more sense to do what my mom taught me all these years and to have a healthy, well-balanced diet.

--to sum it up, when I started finally doing what my mom advised me to do all my life and realize that she was right all along. :D

I realized that I had grown up when I got a bad concussion my first month of college and had to go to the ER, and then realizing that my parents were a state away. And then 2 days later when I passed out at rush and had to be in the ambulance by myself back to the ER. Not a good week. But it made me more careful of myself!

It's funny because I'm older than most of you here, but I really still don't feel like an official adult. When I'm getting in a suit for work (on the days I actually wear suits) I more often than not feel like I'm playing "dress up" and pretending to be a grown up.