Oh to be Young Again...

              I am awlays hearing adults saying, 'if only I was twenty-three, again' or 'if I was your age' or 'when I was eighteen I was doing this, this, and this'. I sigh everytime someone starts off a lecture or conversation like that, but it's not because they are rambling on. I sigh because most adults (ones without children, mostly) do not realize how different expectations and society are towards teens and young adults. Now, if you really want to be successful in life, it's not just about going to college anymore. You are expected to be at the top of your class, while donating all of your time to help others, and become well rounded before you graduate high school. While talking to my fellow friend, Sam, I realized that it has been non-stop work since August. We still have one and a half more years of this, then we get rewarded with at least four years of college. Further, we go to our jobs which will probably be rewarding, yet stressful for most of our lives. We both realized that our time off will be when we are sixty years old and retired, if we save our money correctly. Woo! I cannot wait until I am sixty years old and free!

              My reasoning for looking at the glass as half empty is that I would not particularly want to go back and stay in this constant work era of my life. I would rather go back to where I was successful and most happy. I guess that's why adults say they wished they were young again, but my arguement is that their memories of being young are much more different than what teenagers will have today. With four teenagers, my mother says that she would not want to be a kid or young adult at this time. She really understands how driven a sixteen and seventeen year old must be to keep up with the standards in the competitive world. Would I change my mind and take the easy route if I could? No, I strive for challenge, but I am also a sixteen year old who misses the free time I once enjoyed. All I am asking is for adults to think twice about how times have changed for teenagers, and to stop rambling on about how great things were years ago when now things have 'changed'. (meaning times are worse now than before)