Birthdays are a big part of the world we live in. Some people look forward to their birthdays all year and love celebrating. Others wish they could trade all the attention for a chill day, while still others would prefer to skip their birthday altogether. Everyone is different when it comes to how we celebrate and how we feel about our birthday culture, but chances are you look forward to your birthday for one reason or another.

Even though birthdays are great, if you think about it, they’re kind of weird. You get an entire day to celebrate yourself purely based on the fact you were born. You didn’t help your mom out while she was in labor (let alone while she was carrying you for 9 months) and yet we celebrate you. Don’t get me wrong, birthdays are awesome, they’re just weird.

Even though birthdays are strange and we all have different thoughts on them, one thing I guarantee we would all agree on is feeling awkward when people sing to us. It’s usually pretty uncomfortable, especially because no one knows what to do when people are singing.

“When people sing to me I have a smile on my face, but I feel awkward on the inside,” sophomore, Evan Wheeler, said.

“It feels really awkward when people are singing Happy Birthday, because I didn’t really do anything to deserve it in the first place, other than being born. I just wish we would quit the singing, like the warm smiles and welcomes are nice, but let’s cut the awkward and stick to just friendly happy birthday sayings,” junior, Jordan Stowell, said.

“I honestly don’t really know how to feel when people sing to me, cause I have a summer birthday but I don’t feel like I’d like it that much,” senior, Kaden Ashby, said.

Students do all kinds of things to celebrate, but some talked about their specific traditions.

“I like celebrating my birthday, and when I celebrate I usually like to go on a hike and spend the day up on the mountain,” Wheeler said.

“I have very mixed feelings about birthdays. I don’t mind them, but they can also be annoying. When I celebrate, I usually just ask for something from my parents, or get money,” Stowell said.

No matter what you do, birthdays can be really fun and special. And even though not everyone enjoys the attention birthdays bring, it’s your day to celebrate, so party hard!