Out of nearly seven billion people in this world, only around five million have the privilege to say it is their birthday once every four years, according to Google.

Freshmen Mir Hwang and Zhen Huang and sophomore Mye Singha were born Feb. 29, 1996, and are three of the 4,791,239 people who have a Feb. 29 birthday.

“Some people find it really cool and special while others find it pretty devastating since my ‘real’ birthday would only come every four years,” Hwang said.  “However, I would have to say that I find myself pretty lucky to be born on a leap year since it is unique.”

Along with Singha and Hwang who believe that their birthday is special, Huang finds himself to be lucky, like a “lottery winner.”

On non-leap years, leap year babies can choose when to celebrate their birthday.  Some may choose to celebrate Feb. 28, March 1, both days or none at all.

“I celebrate my birthday on March 1 when leap year is not around,” Hwang said.

While Hwang celebrates Feb. 28, Singha chooses to celebrate her birthday on both Feb. 28 and March 1 because she is sad that she can’t celebrate her birthday every year, so she makes it up by celebrating two days in a row on non-leap years.  Huang, however, does not celebrate during the years that are non-leap years.

Both Hwang and Singha consider their age to be the number of years they have lived, but Huang considers his age to be the number of leap years there have been, which will make him 4 years old.

“For now, I like my age to be based on the number of every year but maybe later on, 30 years from now, I might like my age to be based on the number of leap years,” Hwang said.

When it comes to celebrating on non-leap years, Hwang and Singha spend their birthday like any other kid with a “real” birthday, but during a leap year they are usually treated differently, as that year is extra special since it is the day of their actual birthday.

“On my actual birthday four years ago my parents threw a really big party for me, and about over 100 people came so I got a lot of presents,” Singha said.

Along with receiving an ample amount of gifts, Hwang and Singha usually celebrate their real birthday differently than they would on a non-leap year.

“We sometimes go on trips when it is his leap year birthday, usually Italy and France,” Hwang’s mother Mia Hwang said.  “He gets bigger gifts.”

This year, Hwang will celebrate his 2012 leap year birthday by visiting New York City.  Huang and Singha will not take as big as an approach to their birthday this year, but they will still make the best of their day.
“Being a leap year baby is good,” Singha said.  “Unique is always good but the best birthdays I’ve ever had are when my family and best friends are there to celebrate with me.”