There are many stereotypes and assumptions about this point of age in one’s life. The recklessness, the carelessness, the emotional instability, etc. While some of these may be true at times, I think that being a teenager can be a very eye opening experience that is essential to any life.

When you’re at this age, things are confusing. You’re too old now to be totally dependent on other people, but you’re also not old or responsible enough to be entirely independent and make all of your own choices. You’re at this awkward stage in the middle and most of us really don’t know what to do with it. The way they do decide to deal with it preps their future character for when they are adults.

Being a teenager is a perfect time to discover your true self. Your likes, dislikes, career interests, what type of people we wish to surround ourselves with, and who we are as a person. This is a very complicated process which is why I think people should cut us a break about our emotions as teens.

A lot of teenagers take advantage of this time of limited responsibilities and spend most of their time out and about, possibly making some poor decisions along the way. Just as many others, though, think about the future a lot more and spend their teenage years prepping for college and careers. To me, being a teenager is about finding a balance between the two; basically not taking life too seriously nor not seriously enough.

At this time, we should take advantage of both the limited responsibility but not get carried away. This age should be fun, but should also be taken somewhat seriously since this is the only time we get to prep for being adults. We do have quite a bit of time though, so spending every minute over analyzing the future will just put a damper on our young life.