truth

It might as well be a proven scientific fact that if you ask any child or tween, if they wish they could be older, their answer is undoubtedly always going to be an astonishingly speedy "Yes!" We’ve all been through it, the time, or rather age, in our life when you seem to grow with about the speed of a hung-over snail. Yes, it was extremely painful and extremely hard always waiting, seeing birthdays go by, yet never seeming to get any closer to the unattainable goal of adulthood.

Well, I’ve done it! What seemed impossible has now become a reality. I am no longer an elementary school child, or heck, even a middle school preteen. I am officially a double digits teenager! Children of the world, please feel free to be envious. Well, I must say, those countless years of waiting, wishing, and hoping were well worth it. However, I have now stumbled upon a newer much greater problem: not wanting to become an adult. And by saying that, I mean not even wanting to turn eighteen. Indeed this is a much greater problem. Oh the irony, no longer do I wish to wake up one morning having magically gained a few years like it happens in the movies, but now I want my time snail to slow down and be on an extreme hangover.

I came across this problem a month or so ago, as I lay in bed late at night reflecting on my life as I sometimes do. This realization both stunned and panicked me. How had I never thought of this problem before? Where had all the time gone? Freshman year went by so unbelievably quick that I hardly had time to just stop and look around. But now, as an incoming sophomore and having had a few friends graduate, I truly have begun to realize this unfortunate and depressing dilemma.

But why don’t I want to grow up? What is so wrong with going away to college, getting my own apartment, and well, getting a real world job? Well, in most people’s eyes, absolutely nothing. But to me, everything is wrong. I can’t grow up. I can’t go to college. I can’t keep an apartment, and I most certainly cannot have a serious job. I guess to further understand why this is such a huge problem you should first know a little bit more about me.

Well, when the occasion rises I can be extremely mature, but that’s just not me. I still can’t make a bed without the careful assistance of my mother or father. I surely am not incapable if that is what you are thinking, but I guess you could say I am the irresponsible type. My room is a mess, I dress like a teen, I act like a teen, I behave like a teen, and I’m, well, a teen! A teen, who has absolutely no intention of having to grow up. I don’t want to dress seriously, and I don’t want to act seriously (Ha! Me acting seriously? That’s a joke!). I don’t want to listen to lame jams in the car with my children asking to put in their new hip CD which I cannot tolerate. I don’t want to have to pick up coffee for the office and then talk to "Jonathan" about the latest fax stock report. In fact, to be 100% honest, I don’t even know if what I just said makes any sense, let alone know what it means. No, I want to sit in the grass with my friends talking about everything, yet meaning absolutely nothing, I want to catch school football games, and go on trips to the mall knowing I will be doing absolutely nothing other than loitering with some pals. I want to sleep in till 3 in summer and weekends, I want to get caught by the hall monitor, and I want to use the most outrageous eye makeup and most trendy haircuts and colors—as I usually do. And I want to be able to ignore my faults without repercussion. In short I want to be able to keep my careless teenage lifestyle doing countless other things that we teenagers do.

I talked to a few of my friends about this problem. Most agreed with me and began to panic themselves. Oh boy, looks like this generation really isn’t ready to grow up. I did however speak to one friend who is ready to grow up, and well, isn’t as big a fan of the teenage years as I am. His answer to my problem? A simple, "Screw society, don’t grow up." The answer seemed good enough at first. It was just what I had wanted to hear. I was happy, for all but a second until I realized, I was living in a fool’s paradise. As appealing as the answer seemed, there was just no way I could do that. There is just absolutely no reason for a normal adult to not fall into and conform to society. Such behavior would be ridiculed, frowned upon, and just plain wrong. There would be no excuse for me to resist and think I am above the countless others who will have been forced to grow up. Everyone else can grow up, so why can’t I? What is so bad about just…Growing up and maturing? Something I know I am capable of, but just don’t want to do.

Well, I guess by this point you’re probably wondering what a teenager like me is to do in such a situation. I could try to find Peter Pan and his lost boys, or better yet, take a shorter trip to Neverland Ranch with everybody’s favorite pop star and just wish and hope with all my might that it will work. No, I am not going to hang out with Michael in a desperate attempt to retain my youth. I have realized the only thing to do is just enjoy these last few years as much as I can. Perhaps I will find a way to elude growing up and falling into line. It is highly doubtful, but still slightly possible. The truth in it all is that we all have to face our fears whatever they may be, and I guess I know deep down that I am capable of going and getting coffee for Jonathan and the team, making my own bed, and budgeting. In fact, I probably will. I guess this is the most magical thing about being a youth, you can still dream.