Youth Day 2020
Growing up is tough. Not in the sense that literally growing is a challenge but more so mentally. The everyday worries of who you are, who you’re going to be and who you present yourself as are all present and accounted for. At least for me. But I think that growing up is challenging for a reason. It’s the worrying what people think about you, stressing over a test and despair at the realisation you have a maths homework due that make us grow as people.
I’ve worried, as I'm sure many people have, about who I'm going to be, what I'm going to do and if I'm going to be able to do what I want when I'm older. But that’s where I believe that growing up, not just as a teenager but as a person will answer all those questions. The decisions we make now will affect us in the future and decide who we are. Growing up isn’t about waiting until you’re an adult, it’s about deciding who you’re going to be when you are an adult. At least that’s what I think. I still haven’t worked out who I'm going to be, but at the very least I hope to be happy with who I am and what I'm doing. I won’t claim to be an expert on all thing's teenager, I'm probably the farthest from it but I believe that the hardships we face will help us grow up in every sense of the word.
The world we live in is ever changing and as such it becomes both easier and harder for those growing in it. Now we have social media which is a beast all on its own that comes with its own pros and cons. One of the pros would be the ability to connect with people across the world. Another would be too meet people of similar interests or to advertise something, or simply to make yourself known. The cons would be Cyberbullying, scam artists, hackers and predators. You need to be smart enough to recognise the signs of any of these and teenagers are a lot of the time not able to do so. I would know, I am one. I personally don’t have it as of now, purely because I myself don’t want it. As of now I have no use for it. And I for one have no doubt something else will come about in some years' time that’ll add more challenges to the next generation of adolescents.
Self-esteem is one of the hurdles that is hard to overcome. Low self-esteem can lead to depression, self-hate and even suicide. And sadly, all are common. Another problem would probably be other teenagers. We’re all brats that make each other miserable. We all have plenty to learn, even as adults. These issues that every young person faces or has faced are more than taxing, but they shape us into people. I for one hope to be successful, intelligent and in general a good person, but I have a long way to go until I'm all of those things.
Our choices, mistakes and our decisions are what makes us grow up.
