TEENAGERS – by Akriti Kandel

I am thirteen years old and yes, I just entered my teens. Although I am in my actual teens, I do not feel like one. Maybe it is because I am not experienced and I do not know things about teenage life but I have researched about it and I now know a couple of things. (Maybe)

For my personal research (I know it is stupid but please bear with me)

“Mom, you are an adult but what was your favourite stage of life?” I asked my mother once.

“It was somewhere between my childhood and teen life”, she answered.

Honestly, I was not expecting an answer but it was worth it.

Then, I asked my father the same - as I was a bit curious.

“It has got to be my teenage life”, he replied without a second thought - which I found quite funny.

I asked him why but he just laughed it off and did not reply. It was probably a secret that he did not want to tell me.

So, both replied with their teenage life - but I guessed that was because their teenage life was a mixture of both wonderful and bitter memories.

“I think being a teenager is such a compelling time in your life. It gives you some of your worst scars and some of your most exhilarating moments. It's a fascinating place; old enough to feel truly adult, old enough to make decisions that affect the rest of your life, old enough to fall in love, yet, at the same time too young (in most cases) to be free to make a lot of those decisions without someone else's approval.”

― Stephenie Meyer, The Twilight Saga: The Official Illustrated Guide

Now let us get on to the theory part!

Who are teenagers?

Teenagers are those children who are in their teens i.e. from thirteen to nineteen. This is the stage of life that determines what type of an adult you will become when you grow up. Though teenage life is easy for some of us, it is not for most of us for many reasons. There are so many thoughts and feelings bottled up inside you and you just do not know what to do with them. There are a lot of mood swings and uncomfortable things, but being a teenager is a fun phase of life and you should really try to just live it. During the chapter of your teenage years, it is important to stay on the right track and have the right circle of friends around you, to help you take that wonderful step towards adulthood.

“The beginning of wisdom, as they say. When you are seventeen you know everything. When you are twenty-seven, if you still know everything, you are still seventeen.”

― Ray Bradbury, Dandelion Wine

Every teenager is an individual and has a different mindset. They all want to be the best versions of themselves growing up. Although their goals are constantly changing and they experience a lot of emotional changes, at the end all they want is to live a happy and secure life with as little trouble as possible (at least that's what I want).

“I picture my teen life without knowing what’s ahead and I keep on wondering about being filled with thoughts. But all I can think about is the struggle I feel to be who I am today and if I remember those struggles along the way I know my whole life, including my teenage years, will be just a piece of cake.”

-Aakriti Kandel