Birthdays, birthdays, birthdays. Everyone has them. A day completely and entirely dedicated to you. It has festivities, cake, piñatas, and friends. Many people love their birthdays. What is not to love about a whole day full of fun and appreciation? On the other hand, many people surprisingly hate their birthday. To figure out more, I asked a few BHS students about their birthdays.

July 21, 2006: The day that freshman Sammy Feiler was released into this world. A day that will forever be celebrated in the Felier household.
“My birthday is a great day,” Feiler states. “I eat a lot of cake.”
Curious about why Feiler’s birthday is such a great day, I asked him about the wondrous elements that go into his beloved day.
“Even though I do really like my birthday, I don’t love the attention that comes with it. My birthday is my day. I celebrate it for me,” Feiler said.

Not everyone feels the way that Feiler does about birthdays. For instance, senior Santino Giglio does not care for his.
“I don’t understand the excitement around birthdays,” Giglio explained. “I find it odd that people are so ecstatic about the day that they were born”.
So much thought can go into throwing a birthday party. What is the point, really? Everyone was born at one time or another, so Is it really worth all of the enthusiasm?

Continuing the idea of being not-so-found of birthdays, sophomore Sunny Kadlitz is not the most joyful on his day of dedicated celebration.
“I hate my birthday,” Kadlitz explains. “I hate all the attention that it brings. I’ll never get the year back that passed, and I do not like the fact that each year I get older. I don’t like growing up”
Kadlitz brings up an interesting idea. People are so frightened by the idea of growing up or getting older in general, that a day that is totally and completely focused on getting older, can be a very scary thought. People may have a hard time on their birthday because for the next 24 hours of their life, they experience reminders of the existential dread of getting older. An entire year has gone by since your previous birthday, which can be amortifying concept to think about.
Your own feelings towards your birthday are personal. Maybe you look forward to it months in advance, or maybe your birthday is not so happy. Regardless, I would like to wish you all a happy birthday.