What it actually feels like to say goodbye to your teen years
IT’S AWFUL. I’m supposed to look forward to being 20?
Okay maybe that’s extreme. It’s not awful…right?
Saying goodbye to 19 means saying goodbye to my beloved childhood. I come from a very close knit family that is used to always – and yes I mean ALWAYS – being together. I get to call three beautiful (crazy) girls my sisters. And I have two awesome parents who double as friends. I seriously have it all.
Yet here time is kicking me out of my young years and forcing me to grow up! To move out. To get a real education where you don’t make shoebox projects and you don’t bring cupcakes to class on your birthday. To say goodbye to hanging with your friends 24/7.
First comes leaving the nest. Is it crazy to say moving out is almost an unappealing idea to me? The only time I thought about moving out is when my two older sisters and I talked about all moving out together. So I don’t think that really counts. Quickly I was reminded that I would no longer get to come home to a home cooked meal, and free..everything. I am from that family that always spends time with their extended family. Weekends are filled with aunts, uncles, grandparents, and amazing cousins who are truly better described as friends. I’m not ready to leave that! Plus I truly only have a few more years to live with the people I love more than anything in the world. So of course I’m going to take advantage of that.
Next comes saying goodbye to easy As. Elementary school would clearly be described as the best school days of anyone’s life. Moving up from there it got a little bit harder, considering the school work, yet a little bit cooler, considering you start attending school events with your friends and your parents give you a little more freedom. Not to forget that your parents drive you everywhere! I was so anxious to get my driver’s license but soon realized how badly I wish my parents still drove me around. I wasn’t the student in high school who did super-duper well or studied super hard. Scooting by with all As and Bs with maybe one C a year was good enough to me. As my mother would say, I was just “lazy”. She was right. Don’t tell her I said that. Going into college it was a major game changer. I can’t scoot by with those As and Bs without studying. And on top of that I can’t suck up to the teachers so it’s really just a lose-lose situation. On the plus side, the last two years I actually get to study things that are important to me.
Then there comes saying goodbye to your extravagant social life. After high school your friend list decreases. You no longer have that 50 minute lunch everyday where you go with the friends that you don’t bring over to your house but you’re good enough friends to where you want to go to lunch with them. There’s no longer the hallway stops in between classes where you chat it up. And in college you don’t even get the pleasure of talking to the kid next to you in class. Heck you probably don’t even know the kid next to you or any kid in the room for that matter.
So here I am. Slowly approaching the big 20 and not feeling keen on the idea.
Ps stay tuned for another article – this week’s goal is to think about all of the thrilling things that the future holds. Wish me luck.
XOXO
