Can you honestly say that you knew who exactly you were or wanted to be in middle school? Did you find yourself going back and forth about which crowd you wanted to hang with? Or maybe someone told you that you're just "going through a phase"? If you can relate to any of these things, then maybe you'll identify with some of these middle school phases. Break out the Hillary Duff and Panic! At The Disco CDs!

1. The "emo/rocker" phase

You know what I'm talking about. You listened to Fall Out Boy and thought you had it, like, totally hard in the world.

2. The "I never cared about clothes but now I do" phase

In elementary school you were fine with what you were wearing, and then all of a sudden you started noticing a lot of the girls wearing gaucho pants. Now you want gaucho pants! And you have to have them now! (Insert "Nike tennis shoes" for boys).

3. The "I'm embarrassed by everything" phase

Some people never go through this phase, but being embarrassed by everything is often a common experience in middle school. Some people cite parents, siblings, or even stuff they thought of as cool two minutes earlier, as "sooo embarrassing."

4. The "realizing school is no joke" phase

Oh wait. Homework isn't just an extra credit thing anymore? And I actually might have to study for this test coming up? What?

5. The "anything you can do, I can do better" phase

Competition. It's a natural human instinct that comes out in elementary school when someone claims they can run the track faster than you. Oh yeah? Well, I can do my times tables faster than you! Oh yeah? Well, the teacher said I have the best cursive in the class! For some people, this phase never ends.

6. The "wait, I actually have responsibilities" phase

This phase is a hard one. If you don't do your chores, you get punished. If you don't do your homework, your grade suffers. You actually have an agenda now.

7. The "hold up, my parents are right" phase

The phase where most kids realize that the advice their parents gave them was good advice, and they were dumb for not taking it. If your parents are awesome like mine, you probably realized this fairly early.

8. The "growing up" phase

Ah, the growing-up phase. The time when kids realize that they won't be kids forever, and they should start learning how to be an adult. Who will still probably go through some of these phases. But now they're called "learning experiences." One day I’ll go through this phase.