I turned 13 years old the February of seventh grade, I had glasses, braces and dandruff spotting my squirrel brown hair. I was a little bit of a chub-chub and was considered one of the "smart kids" of my class. One of the "cool" girls in my class told me she thought all I did was lock myself in my room and read when I went home. Sometimes I did, sometimes I went to the mall with my friends, sometimes I played dolls with my younger sister and sometimes I hung out with my mom. I was happy doing each of those things and didn't give much thought to what any one else's opinion of that was. My biggest concern at school was if I remembered to bring my homework back with me and if my friends would be there at lunch. This is how I entered the infamous Teenage Years a blissful little nerd.
In my teens I entered high school, made new friends-- some of the best people I know-- dealt with the death of close family members, realized just how much I love writing, and learned I have the ability to be a leader. If that sentence seemed frazzled and jumpy, that's because that is what high school is. One day you're as happy as can be passing notes and the next day you don't want to talk to anyone because you cried during your precalc exam. From 14-18 I learned momentous lessons about who I am as a person and who I want to be. I learned how to handle confrontation (girls can be mean ya know), I realized it doesn't feel good to be one of the mean girls (sorry Regina), I learned about time management (I can't be everywhere at once, no matter how hard I try) and I learned that sometimes I'm not everyone's cup of tea (I never one prom queen) but I was genuinely happy for my friends who were and I think that is the most important lesson any teenager needs to know-- to be surround by people who you can be genuinely happy for and who will be genuinely happy for you.
At 18 I entered college, as many people do, but my transition wasn't the smoothest, I spent weeks wondering if I was in the right place, if this college would allow me to be the type of writer I want to be. I didn't have the best of friends my freshman year (shout out to my hometown friends, you're hard to beat), but they introduced me to the sport of rowing, so I launched full throttle off the dock and down the Chester River. If you asked me what I learned my freshman year of college my answer would be rowing. It became my life and I loved it! I lost weight, gained muscle, was always tan, but being a rower dominated being a student for me. It was a really tough decision but I had to let rowing go after my sophomore fall season. I left the sport learning just how hard I could push myself when I'm determined and how strong teamwork can be.
The summer in between my freshman and sophomore year I studied abroad in England, Ireland and Scotland. It was incredible, I went three weeks without technology, delve into poetry and hiked up the second highest mountain in the United Kingdom. That experience was once in a lifetime and I'll treasure it forever.
Anyway, what I am trying to say is that my teenage years have been the time where I have grown the most in my life thus far, this week I'll enter my 20's which will be a decade where I will have to grow up and learn how to be an adult in the world. I'll treasure every awkward teenage experience I had as well as some of the happiest memories ever. I want to thank my 13-19 year old selves because most of the time I look back on them a lot more scrutinizingly than I should. I love them, they have shaped me into who I am today, and for that I am forever grateful.
