By Ryan Maloney, assistant women's volleyball coach
I think college coaches are ultimately in the business of helping adolescents become adults. Most would agree. What's debatable is when that actually happens.
If you ask a neuroscientist, she might say adulthood happens at 27 years old, when the human brain is fully developed.
Fredonia's men's basketball coach Phil Seymore doesn't put a number on it, saying: "One of the things it comes down to is responsibility. Accepting the responsibilities you have, whether it's to be a parent, or just being on time. Responsibility to handle things, to handle your frustrations."
I'm inclined to agree that adulthood doesn't lend itself to a particular age. But my favorite definition, from Seth Godin in What To Do When It's Your Turn, makes adulthood a choice:
Embracing the fear of freedom, deciding to determine your own path, this is the work of a grownup, of someone who can identify what truly matters. Being a grownup has nothing to do with how old you are -- it's a choice, one that some people never get around to making. The productive grownup stops waiting for help and contributes instead.
There's a huge difference between being childlike and being childish. When we embrace joy and look at the world with fresh eyes, we're being childlike. When we demand instant gratification and a guarantee that everything will be okay, we're only being childish.