Like one's 16th and 18th birthdays, the 21st represents a turning point, conferring new legal status on those celebrating it. And in some ways, it also represents the last of the landmark birthdays — save 25, when one can rent a car, and 65, when one begins receiving social security.
Some students even recognize the landmark day as the last truly happy birthday.
"I plan to celebrate my birthday every year but I've always expected 21 to be bigger than the other ones. I also think that turning 21 is one of the last positive milestones," senior Leigh Cooper, who will be turning 21 this Sunday, said. "On one hand, it's exciting that you turn 80, but on the other hand, no one is ever excited to actually be 80."
Because turning 21 in the United States grants citizens the ability to legally purchase and consume alcohol, many 21st birthdays tend to be marked by acute intoxication.
According to the 2008 study "21st Birthday Drinking: Extremely Extreme" by the American Psychological Association, four out of five college students, or 83 percent, reported drinking in some way to celebrate their 21st birthdays. Furthermore, 12 percent of students reported to have consumed 21 drinks, while roughly 50 percent claimed to have drunk a number of drinks that exceeded their previous maximum.
Tufts University Police Department (TUPD) Capt. Mark Keith said that the practice of drinking 21 drinks in order to celebrate is both prevalent and dangerous.
"The one thing that I do recall about 21st birthdays is a custom or tradition where someone turning 21 would be encouraged to drink 21 shots," Keith said. "Of course that's something that could be very dangerous when happening during a small period or time, particularly if [the person] is drinking hard alcohol."
Cooper claims the study reflects behaviors she's seen among students at Tufts.
"I do see drinking on the 21st birthday to be a rite of passage here, but I think it often ends up being taken to the extreme, which in most of the cases that I've experienced, has ended up making the party less fun," she said.
In some states, the inclination to take things to the extreme the night of one's 21st birthday has been thwarted by a law banning 21-year-olds from drinking until seven hours after turning 21.
In 2007, Texas state representative Rob Eissler proposed a bill, now known as the "Cinderella Bill," which prohibited 21-year-olds from drinking until 7 a.m. on their birthday. Eissler proposed this bill after the son of his coworker died from alcohol poisoning the night of his 21st birthday. Before the bill was passed in Texas, a similar piece of legislation outlawing midnight-to-closing 21st birthday celebrations was passed in Minnesota.
In Massachusetts, however, it's legal to drink after midnight on one's 21st birthday, though this is at the discretion of bar or club owners.
The timing of celebration can get complicated for those wishing to ring in their 21st at midnight. "I initially wanted to go out on a Sunday night, but that's tricky because some places won't accept your I.D.," senior Connor Larwood, who turned 21 last Monday, said. "But it was also the Sunday after Halloween, so no one wanted to go out with me."
Larwood explained that for him, the celebration started during the day on his birthday and continued through the week.
"It was a week-long celebration because my birthday was on a Monday — so on Monday night, my friends and I went out to Border Café, and I had my first legal drink. They carded me and they loved it," he said. "Tuesday night I went out to Powderhouse Pub [in Ball Square], Thursday I went out to the Burren and on Saturday my friends threw me a surprise party."
Some students who have not yet reached the landmark birthday have similar plans for celebration.
"I want to go to dinner with all my closest friends and then go out," junior Sarah Habib said. "Hopefully mom and dad are paying."
Habib explained that, due to the timing of her birthday, all of her friends will be able to legally join her in her celebratory acts.
"I'm one of the last people to turn 21, so everyone will have an I.D. and be 21 by then," she said.
Celebrations can differ according to when in the year the person turns 21.
"The people who turn 21 first tend to have parties, because all of their friends are still 20, whereas the people who turn 21 later [in the year] tend to go out to a bar or club," Larwood said.
"My birthday is in the summer, which I used to hate when I was younger because in lower school all my friends' parents would come in and bring cupcakes and things to celebrate for the kids' birthdays," senior David Gibbs said. "But now that I'm in college, I liked celebrating my 21st in the summer because I could just relax and not have to think about school. Also it makes me on the younger side so most of my friends could legally drink with me."
One student, junior Austin Vanaria, doesn't have to worry about his friends being legal on his 21st birthday.
"I'm turning 21 in Spain," he said. "I have an identical twin, and we've never been apart on our birthdays so he's going to fly and come visit me with my parents. When we get back next fall, we might do another 21st birthday extravaganza on campus."
