Final week as a teenager
It's my final week as a nineteen year old and I found myself reminiscing of the past years as a teenager. Mostly I am dwelling on the little responsibility I had and the mischief I got up to.
My teenage years had a slow start. I wasn't allowed to do much in high school. My social life was minimal and was spent mostly at home, watching Disney and binge watching films.
From my seventeenth year it got better. I saw my best friends quite often. I did what a lot of teenagers do with some mild regret but now look at those times fondly, though glad that I am not that person anymore. And I made a lot of memories, some bad but some also very great.
In celebration of these last coming days before reaching my second decade upon this Earth, I decided to ask people to briefly share with me some of their fondest memories of being a teenager. Because although the days have passed, the memories have not, and I must remind myself of this when I very reluctantly turn twenty.
"My best mate would have shindigs and all us boys would just get drunk. Now we dont. Just the harsh reality of growing up", Callum (20) said.
I was going to ask my nanna the same question but her fondest memory of being a teenager was probably her wedding day. Oh how times have changed.
I've reached a point where doing that no longer interests me but I look back with great appreciation and hold those times in high sentimental value. If I had a dollar for every time I laughed during those times, I would be a millionaire. And laughter is one of the best things we humans have.
Growing older was my ultimate fear when I was seventeen. My fear was so extreme that I hoped death would sometime soon save me from the inevitable. I feared getting older and not being able to do what I wanted. I feared my aging body making it impossible to do fun things. I feared being in a broken marriage that I believed occurred to everyone at some point.
But as you get older, so do the things that make you happy. Years ago, getting high, laughing and running around carelessly made me happy. But now, it is saving, travelling, watching gigs and not having a hangover in the morning.
My teenage years had a slow start. I wasn't allowed to do much in high school. My social life was minimal and was spent mostly at home, watching Disney and binge watching films.
From my seventeenth year it got better. I saw my best friends quite often. I did what a lot of teenagers do with some mild regret but now look at those times fondly, though glad that I am not that person anymore. And I made a lot of memories, some bad but some also very great.
I asked one of my close friends that I met through work. "Probably my fondest memories was spending
time with my friends when we would get drunk and high and not really have a
care in the world. No one had work, school was the hardest thing ever.
Australia Days were spent together
and we were always using someone’s back yard as a meeting place. Sometimes we’d set up
mattresses and camp out.
I use to skip school with my ex
boyfriend and his best friend and we’d go smoke cigarettes in the park and
listen to music because we were extremely depressed and bonded through our lack of
care or priority.
My friends were a safe haven because we all shared something similar and
that was something so special to me" - Briz (20).
My mother answered, "sneaking out. Was fun until we got caught".
Over the years, after hearing stories and getting to know my mother, I am one hundred percent sure that one of the aspects she loved most about being a teenager was having rules that could be broken. "It's not as fun when you're allowed to", she has quoted to me many times.
My mother has a desire for rebellion. However, these days her morals and responsibilities are stronger.
My mother answered, "sneaking out. Was fun until we got caught".
Over the years, after hearing stories and getting to know my mother, I am one hundred percent sure that one of the aspects she loved most about being a teenager was having rules that could be broken. "It's not as fun when you're allowed to", she has quoted to me many times.
My mother has a desire for rebellion. However, these days her morals and responsibilities are stronger.
"My best mate would have shindigs and all us boys would just get drunk. Now we dont. Just the harsh reality of growing up", Callum (20) said.
I was going to ask my nanna the same question but her fondest memory of being a teenager was probably her wedding day. Oh how times have changed.
I'd say my fondest memories of being a teenager are quite similar to Briz's - only my difference is that I never had a bunch of friends due to my extreme shyness and instead spent my time with my best friend, and occasionally another. We would stay at each other's houses almost every night when we were seventeen, stay up late, and sit in the bathtub with blankets while talking endlessly and laughing. It doesn't sound like much but at the time it was everything.
We would go for drives at night and play music loudly while singing out to pedestrians as we drove past. We would go for a walk to the park and just stare at the stars. Or we would find cool places to get high.
I guess we all look back and remember most is getting drunk and being stupid. And that is absolutely okay because it was fun, and we have all made memories from it. Drinking illegally was exciting after all.
We would go for drives at night and play music loudly while singing out to pedestrians as we drove past. We would go for a walk to the park and just stare at the stars. Or we would find cool places to get high.
I guess we all look back and remember most is getting drunk and being stupid. And that is absolutely okay because it was fun, and we have all made memories from it. Drinking illegally was exciting after all.
Growing older was my ultimate fear when I was seventeen. My fear was so extreme that I hoped death would sometime soon save me from the inevitable. I feared getting older and not being able to do what I wanted. I feared my aging body making it impossible to do fun things. I feared being in a broken marriage that I believed occurred to everyone at some point.
But as you get older, so do the things that make you happy. Years ago, getting high, laughing and running around carelessly made me happy. But now, it is saving, travelling, watching gigs and not having a hangover in the morning.
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