A birthday comes once a year, and you get to celebrate the number of years it’s been since the day you were born. But what if your birthday comes every four years?

Leyden students, Emmanuel Perez and Patrick Barton were both born on February 29th, 2000, so this February 29, they’ll have only their fourth birthday in sixteen years.

Patrick Barton experiences his birthday just like any other birthday: “I celebrate my birthday the same way every year by going out with my friends and dinner with my family, nothing out of the ordinary.” “I’ll be 16 this month, so this will be only the fourth time I see the 29th in my entire life. We celebrate my birthday on March 1st when it’s not a leap year,” Barton explained. But he also said, “It’s cool to tell others that my birthday only comes once every four years.”

Barton also explained the pros and cons of having a birthday every four years, “There aren’t really any pros other than it’s something cool to tell people. One of the most annoying things is when people think they’re being funny when they’re like ‘Aren’t you only three years old?’ because I’ve heard it so many times.”

Emmanuel Perez celebrates his birthday differently though, “I feel like it’s a special day every four years where you can go all out.”

Perez didn’t go into detail on the potential pros and cons about having a birthday on a leap year, but he stated, “The good thing about having your birthday on a leap year is that you’re unique. The cons to this is that people think about other stuff other than your birthday, which makes the day more special in my opinion.”

“I would go over the top because I have to wait four years for it to actually be my birthday,” Perez expressed.