OH THE AWKWARDNESS

As we all know, puberty is hard. Very hard. Before we reach the incredible awkward stages of our early teens, life is simple. We had no cares in the world, other than what was cooking for dinner. Puberty drops this thing called life on you, and there are times when you cannot hold the weight of it by yourself. Even though you had friends and family to help you through this terrible time, puberty made it feel like you had no one. Tina Belcher, one of the most awkward pre-teens out there, helps to make realize that we were all in this together, and that puberty was REAL.

One of the first changes that puberty makes is in regards to ones body. One night you go to sleep a child, and then the next day you wake up as a hairy, smelly beast with boobs or a deeper voice. It can be very confusing.

But, that's what parents are for. They are always around to teach you the lessons of your body and how to keep it nice and tidy.

While we are on the subject, parents at this time could be such "boob-munchers." Sometimes they just didn't understand the struggles that you were going through on a daily basis.

However, they still did their best to look out for your best interest and continued to love you unconditionally. No matter how awkward you were.

I know for me, the biggest struggle was my raging hormones. One day I was skipping around loving life, the next I just wanted to slither away from the world.

And I know for sure that I had a few crazy temper tantrums, even though I never wanted to admit that I was that pre-teen.

When you're in middle school, beauty is everything. Looking like the cool kids is one of the top priorities, but it could be hard. Makeup was confusing, pants never fit, and styles changed way too quick. So instead of avoiding all these things, it was easier to just add them all to each desired outfit of the day.

Friendships were hard and peer pressure was real. It was so important to be popular, even though every single popular person was just as awkward as you. It's okay, we were all there at some point.

At this age, you really start to figure out what your priorities and passions are. Sometimes it's succeeding in school or making friends, and sometimes it's not.

However, for most, dating becomes the biggest priority. Our crushes are the only things we day dream about while we are supposed to be studying algebra. Once in a while we were blessed to have been placed in the same class as our crush. This made learning extremely hard.

Middle school dances may have been uncomfortable, yet they were still the most amazing nights of our lives. Looking back, the awkwardness was beautiful. Nothing looked better than an overabundance of glitter eye shadow,crimped hair, and platform sandals.

Most importantly, puberty was the time to express yourself. Some people used clothes to flaunt their style, while others kept their uniqueness a little more subtle.

If puberty taught us anything, it would be that life will get better. You will still have awkward moments, but life will only continue to blossom. We all need to use Tina Belcher as our role model and just keep on dancing when times get rough.