By Barbara Lockard
Nina Buchan is a sophomore psychology major at Ohio Northern University.  She lives on campus, attends classes by herself and manages to keep up with her studies.

Not unusual, except that according to official records, Nina is just 5 years old.  

As far as this publication can determine, Buchan is the only ONU student and, possibly the only Ada resident, with a Feb. 29 birthday. 

 As we look forward to this extra Leap Year day on Saturday, Buchan expects a rather quiet birthday celebration. A little more hoopla may be in order when you consider that she has a birthday just once every four years!  

“My family isn’t really big on birthdays, but we would usually celebrate on Feb. 28,” said Buchan.

Her driver’s license lists Feb. 29 as her date of birth, but next year when she has it renewed, she’ll need to do it on March 1.  (The DMV told her that she wouldn’t have been born yet on Feb. 28).  Other than this, Buchan stated that it’s not really been a hassle having a Leap Year birthday. 

“I think it’s funny that people I know make a big deal out of it.”

When they hear about her Leap Year birthday, people usually ask Buchan how old she really is, and some make baby jokes. She had a teacher in middle school who brought in a pack of diapers as a joke gift.  “At the time, I thought it was funny,” she laughed.

Overall, she does think it’s “kind of cool” to have a different birthday. Buchan doesn’t know anyone else born on Feb. 29.  She added that some of her friends aren’t even sure what a Leap Year is, but she guesses that she wouldn’t pay much attention to it herself if it wasn’t her birthday.  

Ironically, Buchan’s Saturday birthday coincides this year with the first day of ONU’s spring break.  She admitted that she doesn’t have special plans and will probably go home to Seville, Ohio.  

She was attracted to the Ada campus because of its size that the close relationships that the professors are able to build with their students. Hoping to do research or specialize in children’s psychology, Buchan has a brother, age 24, and a younger sister, 18. Neither has the distinction of being born in a Leap Year.  

Leap Year birthdays are definitely unusual as there is just a 1/1,461 chance of being born on Feb. 29. Irish legend says that it’s permissible for women to propose to men during a Leap Year, while the Scots say it’s an unlucky day.  

As for Nina Buchan, it’s just “kinda’ cool.”