Transitioning from Teen Life to Adulthood
It can be said that your teenage years are the most memorable and crucial period in your life. Juggling high school, having a social life, and working are all things that teenagers worry about. For many, the latter part of your teen years decides the rest of your life. Many of us decide whether post-secondary education is in our future, or if we want to join the military or join the workforce immediately.
Now throw in a pandemic into the mix, and your whole life starts to look very different. I had just turned 17 when the pandemic began, and a junior in high school. In this time period, I feel many teenagers make the transition into maturing into a young adult. The responsibility and realization that adulthood is just around the corner finally start to sink in. It’s okay to feel completely lost. I felt like my life was slipping by so quickly, but it’s important to live in the moment and not worry about the future all too much.
I remember in March of 2020 when the pandemic began, I was so concerned about if I was ready to go into the “real world”, and I always thought I would sit down and figure my whole life out in one day. Turns out, I was completely wrong. I learned that for a good portion of life you just figure it out as you go. It’s important to take life day by day, rather than planning far off in advance, cause who knows what your future may hold?
After graduating high school recently, I learned that many things in life are temporary. Take friends and classmates for example. You’re with these people every day, 5 days a week, for 4 years. You talk to them, befriend them, and you create a bond with them. For many of these friends, once you turn the tassel, it will be the last time you ever speak to them, and that’s okay. I believe that everyone you meet in your life is meant to teach you a lesson in some shape or form. Whether you learn about yourself, or what you like in a friend, or maybe they quite literally taught you something, we all learn from one another. That is what is important, to learn and utilize the information you gained to better yourself and strive to be the best version of yourself that you could possibly be.