06 Apr 2017

When you start to grow up there’s a lot of shit you’re expected to be doing that your parents have probably doing for you- without you even realising it. Moving out, paying rent, getting a credit card and being the one to kill the spiders in the house are all big signs that you’ve well and truly transitioned into adulthood.

Here are a couple more things you should be doing now that you’ve hit full adult and if you’ve got them down pat, you’re pretty much nailing it.

1. You make your own appointments

When you start creeping into adulthood gone are the days of your mum calling up and making appointments for you. While you might be able to convince her to make the call if you’re slowly dying in bed with the flu or some other contagious disease, you can only put off doing it yourself for so long.

Plus, when you get that little bit older you realise that regular checkups will save you time and money in the long run. If you can muster up the courage to make the call, you’re doing pretty well. Bonus points if you also have your own Medicare card and/or health insurance.

2. You’ve opted in to organ donation

With around 1400 people officially waiting for an organ donation within Australia it’s pretty important to make sure you opt in for organ donation. Kudos to anyone who’s has already done it but if not all you have to do is be 18 and officially record your donor decision on the Australian Organ Donor Register.

Don’t forget to talk to your family about it as well, so everyone is on board with your decision. Even if you smoke/drink/avoid exercise and veggies at all costs, there’s only a few medical conditions that will stop someone from being a donor so it’s still super important to opt in.

3. You’re enrolled to vote (and you actually vote)

Enrolling and actually voting might seem like a massive hassle, and your vote isn’t going to actually change anything, right? Don’t fall for this bullshit. Our pollies are cheering when they see stats that there’s still more 18-24 year olds missing from the electoral roll than any other age group in Australia because it means they get to stick to the status quo and avoid changing things up. If we want to change anything we need to kick into gear and enrol to vote. Saunter up to your local primary school, smash a sausage sizzle and tick a few boxes- easy.

4. You know how to cook

You know you’ve hit peak adulthood when you can cook something other than the classic cheese toastie or two minute noodles. As any person who can nail a spag bowl or can cook chicken without poisoning everybody will smugly tell you, learning how to cook, particularly before you move out of home, is a true sign that you’ve got your shit together.

5. You donate blood

There’s a tonne of perks to donating blood. Not only do you have the chance to save three lives but you get the best milkshakes and cookies, for free. All you need to do is head to the Australian Red Cross site and check if you’re eligible and book an appointment.

Drink heaps of water and have a good feed before your appointment then roll up your sleeve and help save someone’s life. It usually takes about an hour for the whole process, ten minutes tops for the actual donation and you can walk out of there with a cookie in hand and a sense of smugness that you are a real, functioning adult.