“Have a great day, sweetie! I love you,” your parents say while dropping you off in your elementary school classroom. All day, your mind wanders back to your home, warmed by your parents’ love. You cannot wait to jump into your parents’ arms after the school day.
Time really flies… you’re in middle school now! You have to be responsible, but you’re not quite smart enough to do things by yourself. You have to listen to your parents and never talk back because that is not your place. You have to be everything, but also nothing. Grades define you, remember that. Good luck!
Cautiously, you get ready for your first day. “You are still my baby, don’t grow up too fast! I love–” You slam your car door shut. Everything is harder than you expected. Your grades take a slight drop, but luckily, you bring them up in time for your report card to come out. What would you be without them? The pressure you face grows more and more every day. You begin questioning yourself in ways you didn’t even know you could. “Who really knows me? Do I even know myself?” Your mind races. Your homework piles up and time goes by so fast, yet so slow. When you’re in class, it feels like that bell will never ring. At home, you spend most of your time on your phone, instead of being productive like you know you should be. It is an endless cycle of procrastination, and you feel like you will never be able to get out of it. Your mental health reaches an all-time low, and life doesn’t feel worth it to you anymore. You start being mean to your parents and anyone else who cares about you. You think it makes you feel better, but it really doesn’t. Every day mushes together because nothing interesting ever seems to happen to you. You beg for your life to go by quicker. Three years later, your wish comes true, and the last bell rings. You walk across the stage in front of an audience of people that you don’t even know. You are indifferent about going to high school, but later, you become determined to make the best of it.
Summer gave you a nice break, but now, you have to go back to school. Have a great time.
Anxiety eats at you until you finally arrive at your high school. Your last moments of being a kid slowly start to fade away, but that’s what you wanted… right? The anxiety that once felt so big starts to feel small. High school is not as bad as you thought. You make real friends, and you can have the freedoms you have always wanted. Now, your only wish is for time to go by slowly… but it doesn’t. You do everything all at once, so you can distract yourself from the stress of your future. Months speed past, and soon, you’ll be in college. You struggle to keep up sometimes, but you want the best for yourself, so you push through. One summer day, you walk across yet another stage with faces that seem much more familiar. You are proud of how far you have come, but you have one regret: not living in the moment.
Growing up is scary, but unfortunately, it’s inevitable. Don’t rush to be older than you are because that feeling of regret will stick with you for life. You are in charge of your own life, so make the most of it!