Birthdays are an excuse to party and hang out with your friends, they’re a reminder of the year you’ve had, they show who you’re becoming. I am always very nervous when my birthday comes around. I've always loved to hang out with people and I’ve always been a popular kid, but I view the ways of a birthday differently from everyone else. Everything in my mind is like a business deal, a competition to be the best. For me, a birthday is an enlightenment of how you’ve done in the past year. It’s the day where you see if you have treated people right or wrong, it’s the day where you'll probably get the biggest wakeup call of your life. Last year, I had my first real birthday party when I turned 14. Although it was fun, it wasn’t what I wanted at all. My birthday was on a Tuesday and on Monday around 10:30 PM; I called and woke up all my friends to tell them about my quickly decided party. All fifteen of them showed up and although it meant the world to me, it felt more like me giving a free dinner than anything else. I realized that half the people who came either invited themselves or tagged along. People wanted to come as plus ones and I allowed it. The truth was, I stuck to the status quo, and I didn’t decide for myself. My friends all told me I could invite whomever I wanted, but they questioned every choice I made. At my high school, whenever it was someone’s birthday, a friend would buy a balloon for him or her from the school store. I saw it done around school so many times and I realized that this was like a tradition. Most of my friends in my cluster had gotten one for their birthday, including a happy birthday song sang by the class in global. It made me smile seeing this, and I knew I wanted it. When my birthday came, nobody got me balloons and nobody sang that birthday song. I had 26 birthday wishes on Facebook and though I had a good time in the end,the moments created weren’t with the people that I wanted to share it with. Fast forward a year later to December 23rd, 2009, it was the day of my 15th birthday. On that morning, I woke up around 6:00 AM due to my excitement and for some strange reason, actually decided to dress up that day. I might not be setting out for the greatest birthday, but at least I would look good doing it. It ended up being a great morning because around 7 o’clock AM, I met up with my neightbor in front of her house to exchange gifts. She even gave me a cupcake. While waiting for her, I saw an old friend Bobby, and just like old times, we walked to the B train. It was a Wednesday so school started at 8:45 but I got there right before first period started. I thought that I was going to be the only one there since I was so early- but a lot of my class was already sitting outside exchanging gifts. Everyone said Happy Birthday to me much to my surprise and I even got some cards from my friends. Cards have always been my favorite part of a gift because those are the memories that money can’t buy. So when people ask me what I want, I usually just tell them that I want a card with a lot of writing in it. Chemistry class was great because since it was the last school day of 2009, we were allowed to make ice cream in Chemistry class. I got my wish because the whole class actually sang Happy Birthday to me. It was horribly sung but the fact that they remembered made me feel special. The rest of the day was a sign of relief because I got more gifts than I expected and people actually remembered that it was my birthday. It felt great in English class when the teacher gave me a birthday pencil and said this birthday makes William the youngest in the class and the end of the 2009 birthdays. I have always tried so hard to act older than my age, but on that day, I appreciated my age. The first balloon that I got was from my friend Emily when she gave me my gift after electricity class. It was a good feeling because I finally got one. People started signing the T-Mobile bag that I used to carry my gifts and by the end of 9th period, the bag was filled with signatures. Last year, I had about a group of 15 friends to celebrate my birthday party. I told people this year that I was going to keep it small and intimate and ended up inviting about 10 people. Most of them didn’t talk to each other that much, but it was nice enough that they would put aside their differences for one day. On the way to meet them, my balloon from Emily actually flew away from City Hall. It was compensated by many more balloons when I met up with all of them at Barnes and Noble. As a whole group, we went to an expensive restaurant called Penang. The best part was that everyone who came were the one's I actually wanted to invite. On our way to the restaurant, an unexpected turn of events happened when we suddenly started walking towards Baskin Robbins and everybody chipped in to buy me an ice cream cake. The dinner was horrible, but it was definitely memorable. I had a great time laughing; the only thing I couldn’t laugh about was trying to swallow hot curry down my throat. I really can’t handle spicy stuff at all so it was an out of choice decision to get curry rice. A while passed and on came the birthday song as the cake came out. I quickly made my wish due to my excitement and wished that everything would be like it is now. Walking home, my balloons suddenly blew up into the skies of Chinatown. For some reason, I wasn't mad. I felt that with all these balloons flying out of my grasp, it was like releasing everything and cleansing myself for a new year to discover who I am. I don’t know if life will always be this way for me, but I was pretty happy that day. I ended up getting not what I pictured, but even better than that. My gifts included a Yankees T-shirt with my favorite player A.J. Burnett on it, two anime books, a cardigan, a Hershey's mug, a Whole Foods bag, chocolate, and one of my favorite gifts, a Burton bag and a $25 Whole Foods gift card. Coming home, we celebrated without candles on a Whole Foods cake but I didn’t mind, I had all I ever wanted. My parents gave me money as always but it’s okay, they’ve already provided me with so much. I checked Facebook and got 47 birthday wishes; after seeing that, turning 15 felt complete. My birthday had been everything and more than what I expected. I realize that Hey! I didn’t do all that bad this year. I have a life with a great family, an awesome group of friends and as a teenager; it only takes time to find what kind of person I will become. My worries were gone.