By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
Like most normal people, I thought my life would be figured out by the age of 24. But here I am, still uncertain, questioning and curious as to when I will become what I want to be when I grow up.
Here’s my experience and thoughts on adulthood so far as my quarter-life crisis stands on the brink, waiting to strike.
An introduction
Hello! I’m Savanna Tenenoff, one of your Brunswick County reporters. I’ve been covering the Brunswick County beat for over two years, but I’ve been living in Brunswick County for most of my life.
A quick summary of me
My parents raised my two older brothers and I in the heart of Southport.
With salt under my wings and a supportive family behind me, I flew the nest at the age of 20 and headed towards western North Carolina for two years.
This was when I decided to twist my two favorite things, writing and being nosey, into a college education.
I earned two bachelor degrees in English and Journalism at Western Carolina University, fell in love with the mountains and realized there’s nothing like a late-night drive around Southport and movie with my parents.
I finished college in Spring 2022, sold my 2007 Chrysler Town and Country with nearly 300,000 miles on it, said goodbye to my new-found friends and moved back to my old stomping grounds.
My internship for The Brunswick Beacon in Shallotte raced by summer 2022. By that September, I was the staff writer for The Brunswick Beacon, where I stayed for two years.
That marked the beginning of an exciting time in my life journey – first job using my degree and first time I actually felt like I was doing something in the world, for the world.
Turning past passions into adulthood
I’ve had many passions in my life. However, my parents would argue one specific hobby dictated my childhood.
Dancing on a stage was my personal oxygen from age two to 19. I competed for several years, taught kids, danced in front of hundreds of people, raised money for charity and built a foundation for my name.
The passion for dance soon turned into the past when I graduated from South Brunswick High School in 2018.
Life felt weird after I graduated high school as the rhythm of life become mine to beat. I was lost and already behind on what people call “adulting.”
Merriam-Webster defines “adulting” as so: “The act or practice of attending to the ordinary tasks required of a responsible adult.”
Some would argue that moving back home with your parents is not a responsible task. However, it is not unordinary and for some it is necessary.
I thought moving back into my childhood home with my parents would be weird after living with multiple scoundrel roommates in my two years away.
Moving back felt like a big failure in life for me.
People don’t talk enough about the difficulty of moving home after thinking you would never move back. It is a confidence blower and downright confusing.
I’m fortunate enough to say that both my parents are loving and willing to take in their children if they need to. Despite their love, I was ready to fly the nest again as soon as I pulled into the driveway nearly three years ago with no savings and no definite plan.
Maybe it’s all practice
The transition from being a student to coming home and being a working adult in the place I grew up is still something I struggle with after nearly three years. I often feel behind in adulthood because old classmates are getting married, buying houses, having children and even moving to different continents. All in different orders of course.
The biggest question I ask myself is: Am I adulting right?
I look in the mirror and still see the same girl I saw in high school some days.
After two years of saving and working, my most recent life step brought me to the Wilmington StarNews and my own apartment. A big change from being with family and feeling the mental warmth of home every night.
The decorations are how I like them and the cooking is great – if I do say so myself. I have a career that I love, a great boyfriend and my car and bills are mine to pay.
Yet here I am, still feeling like I’m not yet “adulting” at 24 years old in my own life.
Maybe adulting is exactly what the Merriam-Webster dictionary defines it as: “practicing.”
My boyfriend often reminds me that each day is a day we have not lived before. I guess we can only practice with what we know. And what we know is that we do not know what tomorrow will bring.
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Despite the planning, the scheduling and the writing on the calendar – we ultimately do not know what will happen in the next minute, let alone the next day.
I may not feel like an adult yet but it definitely feels like I’m attempting to be one each day. Maybe age 24 is not the time to figure out your life, or maybe it is.
All I know is that I can only practice what I know how to do right now – which is write, cook, pay my bills and practice planning for tomorrow.
Savanna Tenenoff covers Brunswick County for the StarNews. Reach her at stenenoff@gannett.com.
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