By Reporter Trenton Nolan
High school is a period of our lives that is filled with action. We stop holding on to old habits and grow into the people we want to be for the rest of our lives. With childhood coming to a close, the responsibilities and pressure of adulthood rest on our shoulders.
This is a time cherished for life, filled with excitement and new opportunities. However, beneath the surface of this experience is a fear that haunts nearly every one of us: the fear of growing up.
Being 17, I have the privilege of driving, working, and participating in many of the activities that I dreamed of doing as a kid. I wish I could grow up, but now, I’m faced with the biggest deciding factor of my life: Who do I want to be?
College talks from the counselors, warnings about getting good grades, and scores on exams barrage my everyday thoughts. I’m constantly anxious about failing or falling just short of the mark.
If I don’t get into this college, am I going to succeed?
As a kid, I never succumbed to this worry. Aging was something that I needed to happen in my life. I’d be able to be myself, live life on the road, and earn massive amounts of money from my job. Everything would be perfect.
That’s what I thought. Nothing could have prepared me for the worry that controls my day-to-day life: working because I need money, doing hours of homework to do well in my classes, hanging out with friends to maintain relationships, and so much more.
Each day that passes, I’m one step closer to a world of responsibility, hardship, and struggle. That’s life, right?
I fear what’s to come because it’s truly unknown. It’s entirely out of my control, and every decision I make can completely change my life. Nobody has a solid idea of where their lives will lead them.
Science can explain the creation of our universe, and we can search the deepest, darkest depths of every ocean our planet has, but nothing can give a set idea of the life that is to come.
No matter where I am in life, it always seems like the next stage holds something greater: more freedom, more success, more happiness. But when I get there, I am met with new uncertainties, new fears, and yet another horizon just out of reach.
In my not-so-professional opinion, growing up is inevitable, but it’s also mysterious, exciting, and sometimes unbearable. So I urge anyone reading this to focus on the now, live in the moment, and while we should work to become the best version of ourselves, don’t forget to appreciate and value where you are at.
