Being in High School somehow, for some gawd awful reason starts the PRESSURE.
And by pressure I mean everybody is starting to gain independence and if you don't keep up, well, you're just plain out of luck.
Kids in my grade are starting to drive
Kids in my grade are starting to get serious about relationships
Kids in my grade are getting jobs
Kids in my grade are doing the mcnasty
Kids in my grade are experimenting with tobacco and alcohol
And it has become increasingly hard to "live above the influence" of all these activities. I remember asking successful upperclassmen how they had survived unscathed by all the pressure and the thing that was most constant in their responses was to keep busy.
Since then I have taken their advice. I'm an active member of a myriad of clubs and extracurriculars and academic competitions. In my free time I volunteer.
But being so busy, being so dedicated to many different things has made me question what I was even doing. Recently I was questioning why I was even in debate. Do I have the passion for it? Do I have the skill?
It's been like this for most of the things that I'm in. At this crucial point I'm also being bombarded by the opportunity to hang out with people that I like, but probably shouldn't be spending time with.
It's times like these when I could use some people giving me the "When I was your age..." speech.
When I was your age....I never dealt with peer pressure. Sounds like I made this up, I know. I have no idea how I have avoided such a common teenage problem. Maybe I was afraid of disappointing my parents, or maybe I just saw past all of it and realized that a lot of the stupid stuff kids do to themselves wasn't something I wanted to be a part of. I volunteered because I played cards at lunch instead of doing other things. I also didn't want to learn to drive, however, on this account, I now love driving. I don't drink alcohol unless it's legal where I am at or unless I'm with my parents at the dinner table. Guess I got off easy.
ReplyDeleteWhoa, that was supposed to say I volunteered because I wanted to AND I played cards... not sure where the middle bits went.
ReplyDelete