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Being a Teen

Being a teenager is a lot like being a rubberband. You're pulled this way by your friends, but your parents pull you another. Your teachers pull you toward doing homework, but your body pulls you toward going to sleep. For the duration of my teen years, I felt that tension of being pulled from all directions. I wanted to please my parents by getting good grades, being editor-in-chief of the newspaper, and overall being the model child, and basically doing everything that I thought they expected me to do. And to live up to this idealized image, I couldn't always go where my friends wanted to or do the things they did.

I sat home most nights studying, focusing on only one side of the tension. In the end, I wound up being a straight "A" student who was getting an "F" in social skills. When I entered my freshman year of college, just two years ago, I was determined to have a good time. But the honor student in me clawed her way out and shoved me into the libraries on most Friday nights. It wasn't until my wonderful roommate, who's now one of my best friends, dragged me from our tiny dorm room and brought me to see a concert at a local club. I can't remember the name of the band or even if I liked their music, but I remember dancing to the songs and letting go of all my stress for the night.

I got home at a somewhat reasonable hour for a Saturday night and still had time to study the next day. It was then that I realized something very important about being a teenager and being in school. The only way to relieve the tension of that rubberband is to find a balance.

 Now, I go out and have fun with my friends, but I remember that my schoolwork will still be there when I get back and I make sure it gets done. And if I've got an important test coming up, the friends take a back seat. It's about compromise and finding a way to manage having a social life with an academic one. It might mean that your sleep-time gets cut down, but in the end it will be worth it. I realized that during high school, I was only living a half a life. Now that I've found a balance, I've got a well-rounded existence.

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