Leapsters celebrate birthdays every four years

Samantha Samuel
The Signal

There are several things in this world that are taken for granted, such as nature, the ability to hear or speak, and even people in general.

One thing the majority of people take for granted is their own birthday. It’s the one day that comes around every year to celebrate the anniversary of someone’s existence. What happens to the select few who don’t get to experience this exciting occasion on an annual basis?

A leap year occurs every four years if the year is evenly divisible by four. If the year can be evenly divided by 100 then it’s not a leap year unless the year is also evenly divisible by 400.

A leap year consists of 366 days, as opposed to a regular year, which has 365 days. Leap years are needed to keep the calendar in alignment with the Earth’s revolutions around the sun. If Feb. 29 wasn’t added to the calendar approximately every 4 years, we would lose almost six hours off our calendar every year, meaning that our calendar would be off by approximately 24 days after 100 years.

Those born on Feb. 29, also known as Leap Day, are referred to as “leaplings” or “leapsters.” People with this unique birthday only have official birthdays once every four years. Wendy Mass, author of the book “Leap Day,” wrote a story that takes place on that particular day.

“I wanted to write a book that took place on one day, so I went through the calendar in hopes of finding the perfect day,” said Mass. “It wasn’t a leap year that year, but when I got to February, the idea just hit me. It’s such an odd day, a day out of time with a lot of story potential.”

In “Leap Day,” the protagonist, Josie, is a teenage girl who’s turning 16 even though it’s only her sixth official birthday. Her family and friends plan to make her last official birthday as a teenager special.

“I started researching Leap Day birthdays and found that ‘leapsters’ celebrate in all sorts of ways,” Mass said. “Her family and friends make her day extra special with a lot of surprises. Josie also takes her driving exam and has a sweet sixteen initiation of sorts. A lot of secrets are revealed.”

Many “leapsters” celebrate their birthday on March 1 since it’s the day after Feb. 28. Others wonder how they feel about their unique birthday. Brooklyn Siegmund, a Texas native and proud “leapster,” has a positive attitude about it.

“I love having this unique birthday,” Siegmund said. “I’ll be 24 this year, but technically I’ll only be 6. Not many people can say that. People don’t understand how someone can be so excited to be able to celebrate their birthday on their actual day of birth.”

Brooklyn naturally experienced teasing for her unique birthday, which helped her develop a good sense of humor.

“When I don’t have an ‘official’ birthday, my parents say, ‘there’s no need to buy you presents this year since you don’t have a birthday,’ Siegmund said. My friends always state my age based on how many actual birthdays I’ve had instead of my age in general. My boyfriend gets teased about being with a 6-year-old. He’ll say to me, ‘act your age, oh, wait a minute, you are!’ I always try and get a child’s discount at restaurants, but that never works.”

Corey Everett, 35, is a “leapster” residing in Georgia. He and his wife are expecting a son who also has a possibility of being born on Leap Day.

“I think it would be pretty exciting if our son has a leap day birthday,” Everett said. “I know he would get a lot of extra attention since it is pretty unique. We are a little torn on the idea because we don’t want him to feel slighted not having his own day.”

People who are born on Leap Day are often teased; they are quick to point out that the other years are common.