This I Believe
Kevin C
English Period 6
I am just beginning to discover that being a teenager is showing that you can be an adult, and this I believe. College and the rest of my life is speeding toward me like a Randy Johnson fastball. Media influences our every move and exposes us to drama and tragedy. We see murder and all the bad in the world before we can even understand what it all means. Music exposes us to swear and the degradation of others, but it’s the ability to control the language and handle sad situations that shows adults that we can handle outside influences. When I was younger, I would play tag and run around my yard relying on my parents to make sure I didn’t get hurt. Now I go downtown and hang around buildings with a bunch of friends or we go out to restaurants, ball games and movies alone. How is this showing that I am an adult? This shows that I can fend for myself, rise above the peer pressure, make my own decisions, and face the consequences I bring onto myself.
Just six months ago I received a letter that changed my thinking from what I am going to do this weekend; to what am I going to do with the rest of my life. I got a letter from a national baseball program recruiting me to play baseball at college showcases. I now need to decide if I want to play baseball in college with one year of experience in high school ball. Looking at the colleges, I see last year’s competitors in the national tournament as well as the colleges that I would like to go to. Florida, Texas and LSU are the big D-1’s and then there are the colleges that I’m looking at, such as Dartmouth and BC. What do I plan on accomplishing? Where do I want to go to college? Is this the type of thing I should be thinking about? Do other kids go through the same thing? I’m two years away from college and I have just finished tryouts, I feel like I need to have thoughts of girls and catching fly balls in mind, not college and what I want to major in and if I want to play baseball in a D-1, D-2 or D-3 school. All these things are racing through my head, and I know that I will need to make these decisions. My parents don’t know any of my dreams and ambitions. I am on my own now.
Driving is also rapidly approaching in my life. I need a job to get money to pay for gas. Should I be working during the summer which is my time off from hectic life, or should I do the back-breaking work of caddying to help me in the future? I guess life starts to fall in your hands during your teenage years and in high school. I see it everyday, young people, just in their teens, drinking 2-4 cups of coffee everyday. They are going to bed at midnight because of school, then sports, and then homework; it’s not good to be up that late consistently. When teens are doing adult things, they aren’t being kids, they aren’t thinking like kids and they don’t have small problems. But as we overcome those issues and that shows that they can handle tough situations, which is what being an adult is.
I guess when we are faced with responsibility and challenging situations, its time for us not to be kids and that’s not all bad. We can’t cry to our moms when we don’t do well in school, we have to fix it yourself and self-advocate. Being a teenager isn’t sandboxes and tag; it’s showing your parents that you can make decisions and that they can trust you. Maybe adolescence is learning to grow and take responsibility and accountability for our childish mistakes. Showing vulnerability and kid feelings isn’t bad, but what makes us adults is fixing them without complaining and crying to get our way. Proving that I am an adult is a difficult journey, but when the journey’s done, I know I will be ready for whatever my future holds.