Not many people remember their fourth birthday, much less their third or second. However, three-year-old sophomore Katelin Koehn will remember them all. Koehn was born on February 29, leap day. Because this day comes every four years, Koehn is turning four years old on Saturday, Feb. 29.
“People make fun of me a lot like, “Oh my gosh, you’re such a tall baby!”, “Oh my gosh, you’re already a sophomore? You’re so smart!”,” Koehn said.
After 16 years, Koehn has gotten used to people being surprised about her age. She does not advertise her unique age to her classmates, but her unusual birth date has been covered by local news sources.
“I’ve gotten used to it because so many people ask me questions about it. I’ve told a few people over the years and some people see it on the news and stuff,” Koehn said.
While Koehn celebrates her birthday every year, she goes the extra mile for each “real” birthday. Because this is her true fourth birthday, Koehn is having a larger party than usual, along with including decorations with the number four on them.
“I got a candle that has a four. I have more people over and normally have more food and stuff,” Koehn said.
Senior Becca Meyer, a friend of Koehn, is one of the invitees to her fourth birthday. Meyer discovered Koehn’s age after being invited to her party. Meyer said she is excited because she knows Katelin has put a lot of planning into the party.
“Thinking of her as a four-year-old, it’s really more of a joke than anything I take seriously. She invited me to her party and that’s when I realized she had a leap day birthday. I just kinda laughed when she told me,” Meyer said.
Along with the larger party, Koehn’s family uses frogs to denote her special birthdays.
“With it being leap day, my family brought frogs into it because frogs leap. So every time I get something with a frog,” Koehn said.